this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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Steam Deck
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While the Steam Deck deserves a lot of praise for the things it does right, like SSD upgrades and Valve's warranty policies, we should absolutely not take it as an example of the perfectly repairable device.
The battery is glued with super strong adhesive, and it's an absolute pain to take out. In fact, you'll inevitably bend it which permanently reduces capacity. If you soak everything in isopropyl, you now risk damaging the screen and a few other components, and the adhesive still won't fully give out. In 2003, the GameBoy Advance had easily replaceable battery packs.
Also, parts being available on iFixit is a major step forward. iFixit's arbitrary internacional shipping policies are a major step backwards. Parts should be available on multiple sources, just like the device itself is sold from multiple sources.
Also, if the Dreamcast used hall effect joysticks in 1998, the Steam Deck should've used them in 2023 when virtually all game controllers are suffering from drift. Speaking of drift, do you know how many issues on the Deck are caused by not up to standard tolerances when assembling the shell? Several of them: from failing analogue triggers to screen bleed.
I absolutely love my Deck, and in the world of consoles, it's a miracle just how open it is. But it still is far from what we used to expect from PCs and other consumer goods.
Valve employees have said in interviews that they didn't want the battery glued down, but that with the battery expanding and shrinking during use they couldn't keep it from rattling around unless they glued it down. Other companies have managed this, so it's not an impossible issue. However it wasn't something valve was able to easily solve.
As far as hall effect joysticks go, I'm not going to complain when none of the modern first party console controllers come with hall-effect. Microsoft and Sony have pro controllers for $150-200 that don't come with hall effect sensors. Valve making the thumbsticks easily replaceable is enough imo. Things could be much worse, the Asus Ally uses the same type of thumbsticks as Nintendo Joycons for example.
I will, when there are cheap third party controllers that have hall effect, and some random company managed to make them for the Steam Deck itself.
I’ve never designed mobile hardware, but it seems like the easy fix for that would be to glue the battery to a thin backplane and then screw the backplane down; then people could just replace the battery+backplane as a single unit…
(ETA: but I’ll take a Steam Deck with a non-replaceable battery over any of the existing competition any day.)
What is the battery glues to? Can’t that entire piece just be replaced?
Sounds like a simple piece of foam or a spring lever would work.
You know what can handle expanding and shrinking and hold things in place? Foam, or I'm sure a dozen other solutions engineers have come up with for this problem over the last 50+ years.
That's what I was thinking. Like is velcro no longer a thing either?
I really wish they were able to solve the battery issue. I bought my Deck like a week ago and battery is something that usually goes with time.
I'm glad to hear an explanation as to why the battery is as glued as aggressively.
Good points and well taken. For what it is worth I have probably 1000 hours on my Deck since purchase and the springs in the sticks seem a little worn (subjective feel) but I haven't had any drift issues yet.
If it becomes an issue I will get hall effect sticks and replace them as a wear item like tires on a car.
Yes, why always piezo over hall effect?
I want to start out by saying I agree with everything you said, but I want to clarify by pointing out that Valve did trying to have a free floating battery but didn't like how the console felt during testing. While they could have made a compartment I imagine the added weight and bulk (due to the battery shape) would not have been worth it.