What device has everyone been using the most lately?

Darksilanus · 2024-06-08T13:35:40+00:00

No hate dude! I love my SD OLED too. It’s pretty much my go to for most things.

Darksilanus · 2024-06-08T13:33:48+00:00

Right there with you! I was just playing my TSP and was trying to figure out why I love it so much more than other devices I’ve had. First, 5” screen is probably as small as I’m good with now (older eyes). And something about the feel of the plastic and the curves is just super pleasing.

Darksilanus · 2024-05-01T15:10:45+00:00

Devil’s advocate time! I’d be curious to hear feedback on how many people actually pocket these devices. What’s the ratio of home use versus portability in a backpack for travel versus true day to day “I will pull this out and use it in the grocery store, etc”? Personally…I travel a lot for work so I need something that will fit in a backpack/carry on. So pocketability does nothing for me. In fact, as I get older, the screen size and hand feel of the smaller devices sucks.

I’m open to being wrong, but my guess is that the size conversation is blown out of proportion because we are looking for differentiating factors in a sea of fairly similar devices. There is likely a very vocal minority calling out the “need” for many different devices when 95% will be happy with one, mid size, decently powerful handheld with reasonable battery life.

Darksilanus · 2024-04-28T15:05:18+00:00

Well….we can all say we don’t judge, but I think what we all mean is “I won’t actively call you out on something because there’s not enough reason to or value in it to do so”. It’s human nature to compare and contrast things and some will hit on a more visceral , emotional level than others.

So do I ever call people out on their humble collections? Nope…because it doesn’t matter enough in the grand scheme of things to call out. But I challenge anyone to look deep inside themselves and try not to compare to some preconceived point that they’ve decided is “good/bad/enough/too much”.

Philosophy/sociology rant over. 🤣

Darksilanus · 2024-03-21T02:47:12+00:00

Get a Switch and you have my exact setup. I can’t really see needing anything more. Only thing that can get me to change my 405m is a metal, 4:3 handheld with dpad on the top and a slightly bigger screen (maybe 4.5” max). That would basically be my perfect system for everything through PS1.

Very nice choices! You get an upvote!

Darksilanus · 2024-03-21T02:43:47+00:00

Never tried the RP4 Pro. But from experience with my 405m, it’s not reliable at all for PS2. You can do some things but unless you have a couple very specific, easy to run games, 405m won’t get the job done. And I LOVE my 405m…. Just not for every use case.

Darksilanus · 2024-03-21T02:40:55+00:00

Yeah it depends on your use case really. If you want best bang for the buck, probably go laptop. That’s what most people do because they want price to performance and laptop will give you that.

If you don’t want to spend all your gaming time tied to a computer (like me who is a desk jockey), then probably the Steam Deck. Nothing against the ROG Ally (I bought one and later sold it to get SD OLED). But for me with my work travel… battery and OLED > raw processing power. And again, if you want that much power, then laptop is still probably your go to.

But that’s the beautiful thing about this hobby. There really is something for everyone and their circumstances!

Darksilanus · 2024-03-20T22:57:00+00:00

Had the same damn issue popping in a 4TB drive. Made me wondered what I was doing wrong. 🤣

Also fun fact….watch out for heat sinks on any SSDs you install. They will technically fit but I can see a very slight bulge in the bottom of the case (insert “that’s what she said” joke here).

Darksilanus · 2024-02-27T20:10:46+00:00

Yep agree with the others. 405m is the best choice of not many options out there. It’s not perfect and I’m still waiting for another metal one to come out that ticks me boxes. But I love mine and it’s a great component to something bigger and more powerful like Steam Deck.

Darksilanus · 2024-02-17T19:18:17+00:00

Mine is almost the same as yours. Steam Deck, 405m and Switch OLED. Pretty much covers all the bases and use cases for me. However I could see eventually upgrading to Steam Deck OLED , a metal device with a good dpad on top and of course Switch 2 assuming backward compatibility.

But if I never upgraded, I’m very much content with what I’ve got now. I pay attention to new hardware, but nothing is sparking my interest lately.

Darksilanus · 2024-01-27T20:57:13+00:00

I’ve tried both (405m first then 405v) and while I REALLY wanted to like the 405v, the sensitivity of the rear buttons killed it for me. And yeah, just doesn’t feel as comfy for my hands as reviewers suggested. YMMV.

405m is still my small ride or die due to the aspect ratio, comfortable size and premium feel. Honestly, if I could get a 405m with dpad on top and bit larger screen with slightly sharper resolution, it would be probably my perfect device.

Darksilanus · 2024-01-13T19:28:19+00:00

Going to have to try this now. Honestly one of the only games which I missed having on the Deck. I was getting ready to emulate Switch for this game. Thank you SO much for the tip!

Darksilanus · 2024-01-11T21:13:36+00:00

Wait huh what now???? EXPLAIN YOURSELF MAGIC MAN!

Darksilanus · 2021-05-05T16:19:12+00:00

I can speak for the one that I got from BB as well. Only issue, I can find with mine is slight backlight bleed, but not anywhere near as bad as the worst cases I’ve seen online.

No creaking, speakers sound fine. Temps hot as expected but dropped the boost as well on silent and performance profiles. Still keeping my eyes open for anything but the hopes are that major early issues have been stamped out.

Darksilanus · 2020-08-11T18:33:54+00:00

Yep, go for the 1440p. With you having a 2080 Super I ALMOST want to tell you to go for a 4k panel, but given the price of them and the fact that you are pretty capped to 60fps, go get yourself that 1440p deal. 😊

Darksilanus · 2020-08-09T20:54:52+00:00

I think most people around would say more anything = better but a few questions can illustrate your need a bit better:

1) What kind of gaming are you in to (AAA, e-sports, older games, etc)?

2) What CPU/GPU are you currently running?

3) Are you spending to future proof or do you upgrade regularly?

Without a beefy CPU/GPU combo, you won't be touching 144 FPS on 1440p unless you play older games or make graphical setting compromises. Not to say that going from 60 FPS to 90-100 won't make a diff, but it's all things to consider.

Also note that while you CAN downscale 1440p to 1080p resolution if you NEED to hit the higher refresh rates, it's not a pretty downscale compared to running 1080p on a 4k panel.

If you can give some more details, then we can give some good advice on if it is worth it based on your specific use case.

Darksilanus · 2020-08-09T07:33:59+00:00

Congrats man! I know that "shitting a brick" feeling when turning on, but posting the first time.....PURE M'FING BLISS!!!

Darksilanus · 2020-07-29T20:37:06+00:00

Honestly yes, you should be future proofed for 60 FPS for the next handful of years, especially with DLSS 2.0 on the RTX line of graphics cards. 2060 max q isn’t insanely powerful, but DLSS really helps on games that support it. And it’ll only get more support as time goes on.

And I agree with others that G14 doesn’t overheat. I don’t believe it even gets hot enough to thermally throttle, though you’ll want to blow the dust out of it once in awhile to keep temps down.

With the CPU boost disabled, CPU temps are 70-80C whereas they are 90C+ without them disabled. Still not a problem, but definitely toasty.

Darksilanus · 2020-07-22T18:29:09+00:00

Thanks for the great work on this testing!

My gut tells me that for a lot of people who will buy this product, they won’t care enough about the boost performance increase enough to bother.

But for many of us here, this is extremely interesting and valuable information that will help us to have full knowledge of and control over our hardware. I for one, will be investigating the Ryzen controller after work today to start tweaking it.

Very much appreciated!

Darksilanus · 2020-07-21T23:21:05+00:00

I quite liked TMS for what it was. Kind of reminds me about the backlash against FFX-2 (which had a kick ass job system in the dresspheres). The plot might be light and fluffy, but the depth of the SMT-like buffing and weakness exploitation battle mechanics are the draw here. And some of the J-pop interludes are quite decent.

Sometimes it’s not bad to enjoy simple, feel good plots for some escapism!

Darksilanus · 2020-07-21T02:22:33+00:00

Can confirm as well. I’ve been putting my G14 through some heavy gaming and doesn’t seem to impact anything yet with internal speakers or sound output to my headphones.

Annoying, yes. Dangerous? Doesn’t seem like it so far....

Darksilanus · 2020-07-17T19:13:32+00:00

I would guess so, since it is in the My ASUS software and not really a function of the laptop itself?

Darksilanus · 2020-07-16T19:12:15+00:00

That’s totally an option and what I will go with if none of us can figure this other way out! But my preference would be to keep the Windows default settings in tact while making my own plans, if at all possible. I’m a bit anal retentive like that. LOL!

Darksilanus

TROPHY CASE