Leaked images reveal Lenovo’s Steam Deck competitor with a hint of the Switch
Leaked images reveal Lenovo’s Steam Deck competitor with a hint of the Switch
if it isn't running Linux I'm not very interested but it's cool hardware
If it’s not running Linux could one not just… install Linux? I wouldn’t be surprised if drivers were out before long.
Power management on laptop-like devices is a problem for Linux because of lazy manufacturers. ACPI often reports broken values and h/w vendors patch it up using Windows driver overrides, rather than a real fix. Suspend/resume is a delicately choreographed set of steps given to the OS by ACPI so if that's wrong, you'll get awful battery life or worse, crashes. Linux devs will emulate the Windows driver patches but that comes later, if at all.
I mean, hopefully it would work but Lenovo would need to not take the easy way out. They've been slipping, even with their Thinkpads lately.
Most likely. Official support is nice though, as with Steam Deck.
I think most people now when looking at portable gaming devices like these want a seamless experience (like with the Steamdeck)
Windows has proven to be problematic with these devices, where when you use the Steamdeck it's pretty much pick up and play. The ROG ally uses Windows + it's own armory crate software and from what I've heard it's been pretty hit or miss
The problem is that if it ships with Windows then you are paying for a Windows license that you won't be using.
ThinkDeck™
Hopefully they dont make the same mistake ASUS did. The fanciest hardware in the world won't help if the software doesn't work out of the box.
Steam Deck got so much right, straight out of the gate. The suspend-resume is nothing short of amazing. The UI is 100% muscle, 0% fat.
IMO, starting with Windows as a base is an automatic setback. There's a strong chance that it'll interrupt your game to ask you if you want to set Edge to be your default browser or some stupid shit.
IMO, starting with Windows as a base is an automatic setback. There's a strong chance that it'll interrupt your game to ask you if you want to set Edge to be your default browser or some stupid shit.
Ugh I can imagine that thing rebooting for an update the second you pause a game to go do something
I get this place is very pro-Linux, but come on. 30+ years of using Windows here, it's never done anything like that.
I don't really like the design of those joy-cons clones. From the images it feels they could snap out from the screen if you put too much pressure. Maybe I am wrong though, I should test it.
I’m excited for this new PC/Console hybrid market to start becoming something big. Hardware competition will drive progress up and prices down while openiNg access to games to many. I do really hone the market lands on Linux as their main OS instead of Windows11.
Why are they choosing to run Windows on these things
Valve has the resources to hack Proton to make things work, others just want an OS they know will already run Windows games without much fuss. Valve specifically wants to move away from Windows because of fears of anticompetitive behavior from Microsoft. They're not just doing it from the goodness of their hearts. Microsoft would like nothing more than the Steam store crushed and all its games moved to their own walled garden.
Lenovo has fucktons of resources to do this sort of thing. Probably more than Valve!
Not only that but I guarantee that Lenovo probably has 10x more Linux engineers and developers than Valve working for them full-time, right now.
A big reason to move away from Microsoft is also lack of licensing fees, which the other companies can definitely get behind. They'd have to make their own store and front end most likely, but proton is basically all done for them and is already in a shippable state that "just works" for users.
Because it's much easier than making their own Linux version.
Valve learned their lesson from the steam machines and isn't just working with 3rd parties with steamos.
Then they could've used generic Linux distros...
It looks sick. I actually have no problem that it's thicker if that means that the battery life is longer (although weight is a concern over thickness, of course). Lenovo hardware is hit and miss though (and I say this having used a Legion laptop for the past few years).
Also, Steam Deck will still remain king until the other companies can make a good track record of consistent software improvements which are needed on a device like this. I see all of these other clones - the Ally, the 50000 Aya devices - and I still am not tempted until I know that they will be supported long term. I really think that this support sets the tone for these devices - is this market going to be a 'it's a year old and already outdated so I'll just buy a new one' kind of thing? Or will it be 'this is good for a quite a few years and I'm happy with my purchase and not immediately getting fomo'? I really hope it's the latter.
Another thing is that, and maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Nintendo patent some part of the detachable controller design that scared companies from doing anything similar for a long time? I could have sworn that was happening for quite a while...
Support, community and quick resume will keep me from straying from my Steam deck for a while. I don't see any competitors beating Steam deck in anything but hardware for a while.
I sure want them to try though, fight for my money!
I think the even bigger advantage Valve has is the business model.
I don't know how much the Deck costs Valve to manufacture. And yes, it's pretty easy to run non-Steam games. But the bottom line is that the Deck does not have to be a profit center for Valve, it just has to drive more sales on Steam without losing too much money. Logitech, Lenovo, Asus, etc have to make money off of the hardware.
Support is important, but being a PC, you can get that from 3rd party solutions like ChimeraOS
I am someone who mods every console that I have. I even mod https://lemmy.world/c/linuxcracksupport here. But fiddling with the Deck can be very tedious and tiring. It's like modding a game - you'll spend hours getting it right, only for your will to play the game be gone.
I've even taken to not doing beta updates anymore on the Deck because the uncertainy that they cause just gets into my playtime. It somewhat ruins the concept of the Deck, which is 'pick up for a few minutes and play' in my mind.
I work in a datacenter and even enterprise grade Lenovo hardware is trash. Hard pass
They lost me when they said it was going to run Windows.
As long as it's not Windows on ARM, it can always get SteamOS installed later.
Unless drivers are available not really. This is all specialized APU stuff. Valve chose AMD on purpose and had a deal with them to improve drivers AMD was already open sourcing and developing for Linux community. If they chose some Windows only hardware you won't have much luck with Steam Deck. It might work but then performance will suffer.
The product designer for this needs to be fired. Anyone who’s held a controller for an extended period of time knows these hard corners will kill your hands.
Same with any product designer who releases a phone with sharp edges just because it looks clean.
It doesn't even look good when they do that.. it looks like they couldn't be bothered.
I had a phone like that for under a week, sent it back. It was so uncomfortable to hold.
Phones are a slightly different story. Edges do help grip, and ensure product stability (which is essential on a phone). Additionally their smaller form factor means ergonomics don’t come into play as much as a game controller.
My wallet would support Steam if it had any sort of bills in it. Lenovo is a lousy company in the gadgets market. I own a marvelous Yoga Tab 3 Pro with an Intel Atom CPU and a built-in projector. An expensive device that received the one clunky Android upgrade and no source code. I modded the firmware enough to make it still usable, but God, do I hate their "support" service. Good riddance!
Will say it's an interesting idea to put a scroll wheel on the back of the right grip. On the deck and steam controller I'd sometimes use track pads to just be scroll wheels, but sometimes I wish there was just a physical tactile scroll wheel instead.
Once again the consumer electronics industry proving that it has essentially zero imagination.
Those who want a Steam Deck can probably just buy a Steam Deck. Or a Switch. 13.2% faster processor, 8.3% more colors, 9% faster refresh... all those endless specs don't speak to me, which is all any company can do if they are just copying some existing design.
How about different form factors? I think the idea of a Steam Deck is great, but I hate how bulky it is. I am willing to sacrifice CPU power and even screen size for something a little more pocketable. Something in a portrait orientation rather landscape, maybe.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Based on the images, Lenovo’s take on a PC gaming handheld looks a lot like devices such as the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally, but it also has a lot in common with the Nintendo Switch.
According to Windows Report, the Legion Go has an eight-inch screen, images show two Joy-Con-like controllers that can be removed, and it even appears to have a wide Switch OLED-like kickstand that you can pop out for tabletop gaming.
The Legion Go’s controllers appear to be a blend of the Switch’s flat but removable Joy-Cons and the Steam Deck’s contoured but attached grips.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from these apparent images of the device (there are more, and you can see them all at Windows Report) is that Lenovo isn’t shying away from making the Legion Go thick.
Asus steered away from thickness and heft with the ROG Ally, which wound up with middling battery life, but we’re beginning to see portables like the upcoming Ayaneo Kun pointed towards beefier batteries.
Lenovo has dabbled with handheld gaming devices in the past, showing the “LaVie Mini” concept in partnership with NEC at CES 2021 and building an unreleased Android-based device called the Legion Play.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Interesting. I thought Nintendo had a patent on the detachable controller thing?
Maybe they had a patent on their mechanism. This looks like the controllers may magnetically lock in rather than be slid on.
That's...worrying. Considering they're going to be the main holding points for a handheld games console.
There were android tablets that had them before the switch even launched, they probably have some patent on exactly how they connect, but the concept itself seems too broad to patent.
There were singular units that can also house the phone like the Backbone One, but there were no units that connected physically to the phone via rails like the Nintendo Switch (and this Lenovo device, apparently) does.
Those types of controllers work very differently and thus are not affected by Nintendo's patent.
I hope not, because the potential for systems like this is great.
Imagine it with an open faced dock below your TV, but the console screen is running a mini map, for example. It could show your inventory or missions and side quests in adventure games.
If it's a touch screen, a long display cable could let it be a part of the game. Building things or making potions could be done on it by dragging and dropping, or stirring with your finger.
It feels like there's a lot of possibilities, but nobody's trying them out yet.
I'm sure there are ways around the Nintendo patent :) and yes I imagine stuff like this would be great for DS/WiiU emulation.
Like seeing the competition. I got the Rog Ally right now and loving it. Not sure I would want the joy cons type form factor though that might make portability easier.
Wow, that looks awful as a handheld.
I kinda dig it. I have comically large hands so the big chunky controllers appeal to me. Don't think I'd ever use them detached but if there's a connector thing like for joycons I can see it working.
Why do these people design the control interfaces without giving thought to it that if it's for PC gaming, mouse cursor control is paramount? While this has a touchpad, the position look like it's an afterthought. And doubly so if it's going to run on Windows on a small screen; touch is just about doable on a 12" Surface Pro screen, I can't imagine going smaller than 10".
Why are the back buttons on the right controller aligned horizontally while the left controller back buttons are aligned vertically?
Also there are two side bottoms shown as well. I'd love to see a demo of this in action.
I'm really curious too, what the heck is going on here?!
Lol, it'll run windows 11 to kill your battery with all the spyware it runs.
Feels like a stretch. Elaborate?
Back in 2015 or so Lenovo was pre-installing superfish spyware on some systems. Whether this was an accident or intentional is up for interpretation. Whether 8 years is enough to earn back trust is up to you. Personally I re-image anything that's mine because I don't need the vendor's bloat that just does the same things windows already does. I don't really use windows much anyway these days for my personal machines but I'm probably not going to buy anything from Lenovo any time soon.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-keeps-feeding-tabloid-news
Windows bad hurr durr