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Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

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Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#11

Post by remarkEon »

tediousdemise wrote: post #6

This is a whole new type of gaslighting being employed by big corporations in the war against the right to repair. The pervasive practice of designing hardware that is difficult to take apart or service needs to end, full stop.

Well, the video does mention that you should "stay tuned" for official vendors for replacement parts for the SSD and thumbsticks.

I think I disagree that this is gaslighting. It's kind of cheeky, in a way, but maybe I'm missing something. There's an inherent tension between "design something that is easy to repair" and "give me a form factor that I actually like for hours of hand held gaming".

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#12

Post by tediousdemise »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #8
tediousdemise wrote: post #6

This is a whole new type of gaslighting being employed by big corporations in the war against the right to repair. The pervasive practice of designing hardware that is difficult to take apart or service needs to end, full stop.

You can’t have tiny surface mount components packed onto the PCBs in phones without trade offs in repaiability. No one[a] is going to buy a game console made of discrete logic and through hole passives when the PS5, X Box, and Switch do a much better job at giving consumers what they want with 0402 (or smaller) passives. I applaud Valve for doing this video. They’re admitting that the device is too complex for the av…

You’re strawmanning my argument by picking components least likely to be repaired or replaced by the average user, completely dodging the usual suspects.

Non-removable batteries are almost always the first parts that go bad in handheld devices, and there are absolutely no excuses for using them other than greed and incompetence.

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#13

Post by Spivak »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #9
lmilcin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course they are still saying "do not open". It voids warranty. But they are not going out of their way to make it hard.

In the US, the FCC has made it clear in recent years that “warranty void if removed” stickers are illegal. Manufacturers can only void the warranty if they can show that any defects are caused by your tinkering.

Which is why they say in the video that the warranty doesn’t cover damage “that you do.”

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#14

Post by Spivak »

tediousdemise wrote: post #10
ecf wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy to repair, inexpensive, high quality It’s choose two situation, no?

My personal preference is (1) and (3). Buy once, cry once. Not buy and discard in 3 years because the battery is non-removable-for-your-safety™.

Is it actually non-removable or non-user-removable? If anyone used to working with electronics can replace it that’s good enough for me.

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#15

Post by spoonjim »

tediousdemise wrote: post #6

This is a whole new type of gaslighting being employed by big corporations in the war against the right to repair. The pervasive practice of designing hardware that is difficult to take apart or service needs to end, full stop.

If you want a handheld console with these specs that is fully modular it will be the size of a basketball.

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#16

Post by shephardjhon »

tediousdemise wrote: post #6

This is a whole new type of gaslighting being employed by big corporations in the war against the right to repair. The pervasive practice of designing hardware that is difficult to take apart or service needs to end, full stop.

I dont think there was a way to make a device this small and powerful without making it this tight and difficult to open. Your point is valid for laptops who try this or promote thin and light to have an excuse to do this.

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#17

Post by shephardjhon »

tediousdemise wrote: post #10
ecf wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy to repair, inexpensive, high quality It’s choose two situation, no?

My personal preference is (1) and (3). Buy once, cry once. Not buy and discard in 3 years because the battery is non-removable-for-your-safety™.

Then get a pi-top instead of this. That takes a normal rasbperry pi 4 and puts it into a huge case and takes away part of the use case for the pi being so small

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#18

Post by john_moscow »

tediousdemise wrote: post #6

This is a whole new type of gaslighting being employed by big corporations in the war against the right to repair. The pervasive practice of designing hardware that is difficult to take apart or service needs to end, full stop.

Not here. "Difficult to take apart" are the finicky plastic latches all around the seam between the 2 halves of the case. The ones that you can sort of open by sliding the credit card around the seam for half an hour. Or give up, pry them with a screwdriver, and scratch the whole thing in numerous places. I would give Valve credit here for the sole act of not putting them.

That said, I would call BS on SSD vs Wi-Fi interference and semi-BS on the ESD gloves and anchoring. Unless you are handling 100 devices per day while wearing your comfy sweater and sitting on a carpet, just make sure you touch any grounded object beforehand, and you will be fine in most of the cases.

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#19

Post by rowanG077 »

tediousdemise wrote: post #6

This is a whole new type of gaslighting being employed by big corporations in the war against the right to repair. The pervasive practice of designing hardware that is difficult to take apart or service needs to end, full stop.

How is this anything but good for right to repair? The average user is unequipped to repair modern electronics. I wouldn't advise the average consumer to try and repair even the framework laptop. But that's not the point of right to repair. The point of right to repair is that manufacturers are required to release parts and schematics/instructions on how to repair their product. Advanced users or independent repair shops can then fix it.

Re: Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

#20

Post by lmilcin »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #9
lmilcin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course they are still saying "do not open". It voids warranty. But they are not going out of their way to make it hard.

In the US, the FCC has made it clear in recent years that “warranty void if removed” stickers are illegal. Manufacturers can only void the warranty if they can show that any defects are caused by your tinkering.

Well somehow I missed that (and also I am from Poland which means the sticker is still enforceable here).

But being amateur electronics engineer myself I actually agree with the "warranty void if opened". Handling electronics safely is not trivial and if you touch electronics with your bare hand you can easily damage it due to static discharge. And there is going to be no way of telling who is exactly responsible for the damage.

I have myself destroyed a bunch of things before I have learned the lesson.

I have also seen a lot of electronics that have been "handled" by repair shops. I repair things for fun, but I know people who do it as their day job and frequently they have special rate for repairs when somebody has already tinkered with it. Mainly because of shit people do to electronics.

I just don't like when manufacturers go out of their way to make it hard for me to understand and repair something when I supposedly own the device and bear full responsibility for my mistakes.

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