In games that don’t have good auto-save (like Skyrim), I’ll map one of the back buttons to quick save.

Mine has integrated graphics plus a dedicated card that it will switch to for higher demand applications. I was not aware of USB to HDMI, I’ll check that out. I don’t game when docked, so I only need the integrated graphics for that purpose. If that resolves my issue for now, I can put off a new purchase until I feel spendy enough to buy one of those Framework laptops!

I have one and it would probably work for my needs when docked, but I mainly use my laptop as a laptop. Its frustrating that such an inconsequential part (the HDMI port) is making me consider replacing an otherwise functioning laptop. Trying to get it repaired is probably the smarter option, its a shame laptops aren’t more user repairable. It definitely makes the Framework laptop that people are recommending appealing if I decide I’m willing to spend some money.

That Framework seems like overkill, but I really like the idea. Maybe I’ll hold out a little while until I see what my job situation is and if things go well I can reward myself! 😀

I actually have one, but I use my laptop as a laptop the majority of the time and the steam deck would not work well for that. I suppose an alternative to buying something new would be to properly setup cloud storage so I could more easily switch between laptop and desktop PCs rather than “docking” (aka KVM) my laptop when I want to use a proper setup at my desk. My poor desktop is essentially unused at this point other than occasionally streaming games to my laptop.

Wow, looking at some of the system specs I was thinking, “who even needs 64GB of RAM?” I don’t think I’ve ever had a system with more than 16GB. But I suppose there was a time when people thought the same about 512KB. I probably wouldn’t shop used, but maybe refurb. I never buy extended warranties, but I do like having the initial guarantee when I buy a new device.

Everything else you mentioned is way outside my knowledge; I could probably learn, but I would rather just have something that works. I used to love getting into the technical stuff, but now I just want to turn on my device and use it.

Lol, it’s a small thing, but I definitely wouldn’t mind having a different key for a non-Windows machine.

I’m okay with blank hardware, I’ve done all my desktop builds for more than 25 years (and recently did the SSD upgrade on a SteamDeck). I just never new there was anything similar available on the laptop market. My concern was more with paying for a Windows license or having hardware that was a subpar choice for linux drivers. I will definitely be learning more!

The only AMD model I’m seeing is the Pangolin with a AMD Radeon 680M. That wouldn’t be bad since it is roughly equivalent to the GTX 1650 I have now and probably way more efficient. Or do they have something newer that hasn’t released yet?

That’s great to hear, from what little I have picked up from this community, I was leaning towards POP for my first attempt.

A DIY laptop???!!! I had no idea such a thing existed, I will definitely be looking into this.

I’ve never cared about running high quality graphics, medium is fine for me. I’m more concerned with fan noise than graphics. My current system is fine for things like Skyrim and Sims 4, but for something like BG3 I’m streaming from my desktop.

Thanks! I notice that all of their gaming laptops have an NVIDIA GPU, but I see people complaining about NVIDIA drivers here regularly, is that an issue I should be concerned with? I would hope a system prebuilt for linux would have taken that into account, but I don’t know that much about the complaints.

I run a heavily modded Skyrim on my deck and it plays fine offline, but the launcher won’t work offline for some reason. So, I can play it as much as I want, so long as I don’t completely exit the game. Its probably a solvable problem, but I’m rarely without a connection or at least the ability to use my phone as a hotspot just to run the launcher.

I’ve thought about it, but right now everything works exactly the way I need it and the only complaint I have is the occasional pop-ups from MS trying to get me to upgrade to win11 or switch my browser. My main uses for my devices are games and I just started back to school, so MS Office is nice to have. So, it’s hard to justify putting in the effort to change things now, especially when I know how to use MS products very well, particularly modding games.

My desktop and laptop are both eligible to upgrade, but I keep declining and will likely switch to linux when win10 support ends.

At this point I’m mainly still on Windows because it is the easiest thing to do - I know how to use it and it is already installed on all my PCs. At least 3 of my PCs are eligible to upgrade to Win11 (2 are not), but I have no plans to ever upgrade. So, when security updates stop, that will be my motivation to give Linux another try.

I use the JLAB JBuds Air Sport. I’ve had them for several years, but they are similar to the $70 version. There is also a $30 version and a $100 version, but I haven’t used them and don’t know what the difference is. I also don’t know what has changed in the newer version of the one I have, so my comments might not perfectly match the current offering.

What I love:

• Solid hooks to hang them from your ears. Earbuds without hooks never stay in my ears and I hate the floppy hooks on most sport earbuds that really only act as a safety catch. These are slightly harder to put on, but stay put even when doing strenuous exercise or yard work.

• The earpiece sits loosly in my ear because it doesn’t need a tight fit to stay in place. Normal earbuds make my ears sore after a while, at least if I get a tight enough fit to keep them in place.

• They don’t put pressure on my ears or head like headphones do. I have some decent Bose headphones (QC 35 II) that are pretty comfortable, but after a few hours the pressure starts to be annoying. I would recommend the Bose headphones, but they aren’t cheap (to me) at $300ish

• I think I’ve had them about 5 years now and still get several hours of playtime between charges. I typically only listen for short periods of time while exercising, but will sometimes wear them for hours while doing work around the house.

What could be better:

• Audio quality is okay, I don’t expect much at this price though

• The controls are hard to remember, I only know how to change volume or tracks

• Controls don’t work with gloves on, which is mainly only an issue in winter. I’ve learned to use my wrist instead of my finger to control them during mild weather. When it is really cold I have to take off a glove to use the controls. I imagine with thick gloves, this would be a problem for any earbuds or headphones

• As they are getting older, they don’t connect as well in the battery case; I have to clean the terminals frequently to make sure they charge

All that said, they are my second most used audio device. Most of my listening is with $15 Philips wired earbuds with ear hooks (no microphone). These give me decent sound quality, are practically weightless, and never need to be charged, so I can wear them as long as I want. I mainly use them with my laptop, phone, and xbox (connected to the controller).

The JBuds are my choice whenever doing something active. The Bose are my least used, even though they are the best quality. I use them when I want to enjoy better quality sound or if I want really good noise canceling (mainly when flying). Otherwise I prefer comfortable earbuds over quality sound.

These are also my choices.

Fair warning…one day your kids will takeover your Steam account, or at least that is what has happened to me.