Handhelds are designed to be portable, but what if you need something smaller than OEM? The Steam Brick pulls basically everything off of a Steam Deck to make it as portable as possible.
[crastinator-pro] found they rarely used the controller or screen on their Steam Deck, and the form factor was too bulky to conveniently chuck into their bag, negating the advantage of owning a portable console. As to be expected from any self-respecting hacker, they did a couple quick tests with components unplugged then got to work with the rotary tool.
After excising the main board from its handheld bonds and trimming unnecessary bits from the aluminum frame around the mainboard, they designed a case that can be tossed in a bag without any special treatment. The case was printed in polycarbonate to better withstand the heat of the console running at full tilt, and the colorful details were added in PLA with a 3D pen.
We’ve discussed using a Steam Deck as a single-board computer before, but if you want to keep it in one piece, you could also get it setup in a slick keyboard case.
I’m not much of a gamer, so while cunning the main work of shrinking the steam deck doesn’t interest me so much. The use of a 3D pen to add colour to the case however is a great idea, and I’d be interested in what techniques were used to get it looking so good. From the look of the photo the texture seems to blend right in with the case surface.
From the look of the .stl, the logo is inset into the case, so I imagine they just filled that depression in with the pen and tried to make it flush/smooth. It does look great.
That is pretty cool! I have a 3D pen but have just used to to weld parts together. Never considered using it to color things in! I’m trying that TODAY! LOL
The main reason I went with a legion go over the steamdeck was it’s removable controllers.
Running bazzite on it, and the xr plugin via decky, I get my viture pro glasses as an option, as well as being able to use the controllers connected, or separately, or as a regular pc with a keyboard
This is a use case for the legion I never thought about but would be greatly interested in.
Still a bigger lump than this though, so this idea still has merit.
That said I can’t understand picking a steamdeck and getting rid of the trackpads, as those really are the best differentiator that makes the otherwise good but not impressive performing deck still the one I’d buy – makes the device really flexible and easy to use for more stuff than the rest of the gaming handhelds. So if I wanted to do this sort of idea I’d probably go for one of the more performant options, though the deck is also really good value…
The track pads are 100% a major selling point for me. The customizable menus you can make for them, and the way it makes certain games infinitely more portable, are huge for me. A lot of my games are mouse focused.
Its so difficult for me to enjoy videogames these days as an almost 30 year old. I have this overwhelming urge that I’m wasting my life and I should be out making friends and talking to women whenever I play a game.
Then I go out and I realise there is no one to talk to! Everyone has their jobs, and things they do. I get more interaction online than I do in real life. No one talks to another.
Ouch :(
Be the change you want to see. Live in the present without judgement. Focus on what you want, rather than on what you don’t want, and you will attract it.
True
You just have to find the right people in the right places. Bars and clubs are terrible places to meet people. I met my wife at a board game/comic book store. Guess what, she loves to game as much as I do. And I didn’t meet her until I was 35. Now we have two gamer children and a small group of really close friends who share our interests, some are near by, some we’ve met through video games. You’ll find your people, we are out there keep looking!!
Sorry this is your experience. We have several groups of friends with whom we share social events, meals, and activities. You have to be intentional and persistent. Our church is the main place where we have found life friends. We are also getting to know our neighbors. And we have got involved in communication activities that have brought another set of friends into our life. Keep trying!
Yeah. Once you get married it gets even harder, the guilt piles on and you’ll never game again.
Keep it down we’re trying to game over here
You’re not going to meet people just going outside. Most people don’t really want to make new friends. When they’re running their errands, they want to finish and go home. You have to go to events and things where people are hanging out casually. I never go anywhere without a handheld system in my purse, but I still make time to meet people at nerdy trivia nights and ’90s dance nights
This seems unnecessary when NUC computers and Raspberry Pi systems running Steam OS or a Linux Distribution would be just as effective.
So… ¿a tiny PC?
Other than the battery, isn’t a chinese tinyPC better option?
For me, what makes the Steam Deck a good option is it being a(the first) handheld at a cheap cost.
The first? Steam Deck released in 2022.
The Nintendo Switch released in 2017.
Switch is WAY earlier and so much smaller AND cheaper. Didja forget?
hardly a handheld PC
I meant a handheld PC.
Even of it wasn’t obvious that he was talking about PC handhelds, there are a load of handhelds before the Switch.
You forgot about a whole half a century of handhelds before the switch. Lol
Why not just buy the parts from ifixit instead of tearing apart an OLED Deck? I have to question why it was so hard for him to use the deal while traveling though, there’s no need to bring it down from an overheard compartment when it can put in a had bag or back pack and kept under the seat.
I’m not totally opposed to the idea of what he did, but until Valve come out with a Steam Controller 2, there’s no Bluetooth controller that can adequately replace what the Deck has built in. That’s the biggest drawback of this hack.
If you can find one the original steam controller are pretty darn close to what is built into the deck, in most ways IMO it is better than the deck. Ergonomically nicer to get at any of the controls and suits my larger hands better (while also it seems being good for the smaller folk), and for me having the trackpad be in a primary placement really is great as I grew to prefer it over a joystick. I had to pad the case on my deck out lots to get it to be nearly as comfortable as the controller.
You do of course have to use a trackpad with a steam controller more often as it only has the one stick, and only on button a side underneath, which is IMO the best bit of the deck as a controller. And the deck does feel that little bit more responsive, but unless you are really a twitch gamer or serious skills you won’t really notice it enough to matter.
Also I don’t think you actually can source a new Mobo for a deck right now and I don’t think it would actually run in a bag at all well. Unless you modded the bag to provide some ventilation I suppose.
Cool, but this is very pointless. Might aswell buy a 7840U based mini pc and get even better performance without the waste and hassle. Plus the mini pc could even dock to a egpu unlike the steam deck mainboard.
Well this is a more power efficient/effective chip at the lower power cap for a longer battery life and still has the inbuilt battery most mini PC won’t come with. So while I do mostly agree, and there are other options that seem like a better choice (mostly as ruining a good steamdeck seems like a travesty while it is still such good hardware) still this is a neatly executed project that suits the posters desired needs.
I don’t really get the point aside from doing it just to see if you can. A built in controller and screen are the point of a portable console. If you dont need/want them, why would you get a steam deck to begin with over any of the mini pcs currently available.
Also, what do you mean you can’t conveniently throw it in a bag? I fly all the time with my steam deck, and use a regular backpack as a carry on for my laptop, steam deck, power bank, etc.