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

79 points by brettnak 5y ago

skeoh 5y ago
I absolutely love this. It would be easy enough for Valve to say "do not open the Steam Deck" and leave it at that. Instead they present clear, sensible reasons for recommending against opening the device while acknowledging that this advice won't stop anyone who really wants to open one up.
- lmilcin 5y ago
  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.
  - lights0123 5y ago
    They actually made it very clear to say that "the warranty doesn't cover any damage that you do" by opening it, not the act of opening it.
    - t-writescode 5y ago
      As far as I understand, no warranty does, it’s just that car companies (where warranty work is usually talked about) err on the side of happy customers, even when it’s those customers’ faults (like burning a clutch too much because someone doesn’t know how to drive a manual. E.g. maaaaaaybe it might have been a bad clutch that caused it to die after 20k miles)
  - colejohnson66 5y ago
    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.
    - Spivak 5y ago
      Which is why they say in the video that the warranty doesn’t cover damage “that you do.”
    - lmilcin 5y ago
      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.
      - genocidicbunny 5y ago
        I think you and the parent comment agree. Just opening an electronic device is not necessarily damaging to it. The damage is done by improper handling. The FCCs argument is based on the notion that as long as you handle the device correctly, the manufacturer shouldn't be able to deny warranty _just_ because you opened it. You need to actually damage the device to lose out on warranty service.
        lmilcin 5y ago
        What I mean is that it is almost never possible to prove who caused ESD damage. It just fries some unfortunate internal part of some integrated circuit. And I can understand companies not wanting to deal with this. When I design electronics I often think of how to make it resistant from people touching it on the outside (ports, enclosure, etc.) but there is about nothing I can do to prevent it getting killed due to direct touching the PCB. And newer designs are only getting more and more fragile. This mainly due to more and more of the circuit being integrated in chips (so when you touch it it is more likely to hit directly a chip), faster communication paths (so they have less capacitance which could be helpful in filtering the shock) and finer manufacturing process (the chips themselves are less and less resistant to ESD).
Doxin 5y ago
> The company cautions that they are completely custom, but says that it will offer a source for “replacement parts, thumbsticks, SSDs, and possibly more” in the coming months. There you go. that's how you do right to repair. Of course in an ideal world they'd also design the device to be easy to repair, but this is a massive leap in the right direction IMO.
- MrGilbert 5y ago
  Exactly that. I get the impression that some commenters here didn't even bother to watch the video or read the description / article. Valve will provide spare parts, and from what I saw so far, it seems repairable. If they don't "dongle" things (looking at you, Apple!), it will still be servable.
  - Doxin 5y ago
    at the very least this should guarantee that there'll be repair shops that can fix common steam deck issues. I wish more companies, and people for that matter, would take this "don't do this, but if you do here's how" approach.
mastrsushi 5y ago
What happened to everyone talking up the “customization” aspects? Guess we’ll have to accept the fact that it’s just a gameboy with an AMD64.
- capableweb 5y ago
  > it’s just a gameboy with an AMD64 How is this even remotely true? The only similarity is that they are both portable, or what am I missing in your argument here? > What happened to everyone talking up the “customization” aspects? This video proves that it'll be dirty easy to customize the components that are being removed. Want your own thumbsticks? Go ahead, here is a instruction video for how to change them. Not sure what's missing for you here?
  - halo37253 5y ago
    Honestly this could replace your gaming desktop if you wanted it too. Granted it would most likely be a downgrade. But i'm sure when it actually releases they will have an entire driver suite for windows. You could gut the linux install, load up windows with the drivers. Get two docks, one for the desktop and the other for your tv. Dock it on the desk for a normal desktop experience, You have SD Card and Network Shares for expanded storage. If you want to game on the TV just connect a Xbox controller to it, otherwise just time before we get another steam controller. For me this is temping largely for the fact that windows can be installed and I'd be able to boot up games off my Gamepass.
solarkraft 5y ago
Poor iFixit. But this is exactly how you do it. People are curious what it looks inside and you don’t want them to open it? Just show them what’s inside and take their reason to open it. It’s similar to warnings. “Don’t do x” is easy to not take seriously since people can say it for all kinds of reasons, “... because it would kill you” is pretty convincing.
conradludgate 5y ago
Remember. Right to repair isn't necessarily about having repairs or upgrades be super easy and anyone can do it. But to make the parts, schematics and information accessible by those that are trained to repair and upgrade them. You can repair a car. Doesn't mean you should repair your own car. Making a mistake can be dangerous. But professionals who know what they are doing have easy access to components and information about the layout of your cars internals if they need them.
rPlayer6554 5y ago
I think this is a fair enough position. I don't expect every device to be easily repairable, especially a gen 1 device. They already have enough trouble getting it to fit into a size that is usable. They give clear reasons for you not to do repairs yourself, but they don't impose any arbitrary restrictions. If you want to void your warranty, they give you the full freedom and knowledge to do so.
beezischillin 5y ago
I'm not necessarily a fan of the complicated design but I accept that it might've been necessary for miniaturisation. Other than that, to me the message of this video is that if anything goes people will have replacement parts available and a repair shop can take care of it. Assuming that's the intention it's still pretty good.
PoignardAzur 5y ago
In general, Valve is really consumer-friendly when it comes to hardware. I recently destroyed my Index's tether cable, mostly my fault, and their tech support sent me a new one for free with very little hassle, and with instructions on how to replace it.
tediousdemise 5y ago
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.
- ecf 5y ago
  Easy to repair, inexpensive, high quality It’s choose two situation, no?
  - tediousdemise 5y ago
    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™.
    - Spivak 5y ago
      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.
    - shephardjhon 5y ago
      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
- colejohnson66 5y ago
  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 average user and that they shouldn’t mess with it, but they also are going to provide replacement parts and a teardown guide should you know what you’re doing. That’s a step in the right direction. [a]: yes, I’m sure some would want this (especially if you asked on here), but I’d bet that the majority of non-tech people don’t care

79 points by brettnak 5y ago

I absolutely love this. It would be easy enough for Valve to say "do not open the Steam Deck" and leave it at that. Instead they present clear, sensible reasons for recommending against opening the device while acknowledging that this advice won't stop anyone who really wants to open one up.

lmilcin 5y ago
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.
- lights0123 5y ago
  They actually made it very clear to say that "the warranty doesn't cover any damage that you do" by opening it, not the act of opening it.
  - t-writescode 5y ago
    As far as I understand, no warranty does, it’s just that car companies (where warranty work is usually talked about) err on the side of happy customers, even when it’s those customers’ faults (like burning a clutch too much because someone doesn’t know how to drive a manual. E.g. maaaaaaybe it might have been a bad clutch that caused it to die after 20k miles)
- colejohnson66 5y ago
  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.
  - Spivak 5y ago
    Which is why they say in the video that the warranty doesn’t cover damage “that you do.”
  - lmilcin 5y ago
    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.
    - genocidicbunny 5y ago
      I think you and the parent comment agree. Just opening an electronic device is not necessarily damaging to it. The damage is done by improper handling. The FCCs argument is based on the notion that as long as you handle the device correctly, the manufacturer shouldn't be able to deny warranty _just_ because you opened it. You need to actually damage the device to lose out on warranty service.
      - lmilcin 5y ago
        What I mean is that it is almost never possible to prove who caused ESD damage. It just fries some unfortunate internal part of some integrated circuit. And I can understand companies not wanting to deal with this. When I design electronics I often think of how to make it resistant from people touching it on the outside (ports, enclosure, etc.) but there is about nothing I can do to prevent it getting killed due to direct touching the PCB. And newer designs are only getting more and more fragile. This mainly due to more and more of the circuit being integrated in chips (so when you touch it it is more likely to hit directly a chip), faster communication paths (so they have less capacitance which could be helpful in filtering the shock) and finer manufacturing process (the chips themselves are less and less resistant to ESD).

Doxin 5y ago

> The company cautions that they are completely custom, but says that it will offer a source for “replacement parts, thumbsticks, SSDs, and possibly more” in the coming months. There you go. that's how you do right to repair. Of course in an ideal world they'd also design the device to be easy to repair, but this is a massive leap in the right direction IMO.

MrGilbert 5y ago
Exactly that. I get the impression that some commenters here didn't even bother to watch the video or read the description / article. Valve will provide spare parts, and from what I saw so far, it seems repairable. If they don't "dongle" things (looking at you, Apple!), it will still be servable.
- Doxin 5y ago
  at the very least this should guarantee that there'll be repair shops that can fix common steam deck issues. I wish more companies, and people for that matter, would take this "don't do this, but if you do here's how" approach.

mastrsushi 5y ago

What happened to everyone talking up the “customization” aspects? Guess we’ll have to accept the fact that it’s just a gameboy with an AMD64.

capableweb 5y ago
> it’s just a gameboy with an AMD64 How is this even remotely true? The only similarity is that they are both portable, or what am I missing in your argument here? > What happened to everyone talking up the “customization” aspects? This video proves that it'll be dirty easy to customize the components that are being removed. Want your own thumbsticks? Go ahead, here is a instruction video for how to change them. Not sure what's missing for you here?
- halo37253 5y ago
  Honestly this could replace your gaming desktop if you wanted it too. Granted it would most likely be a downgrade. But i'm sure when it actually releases they will have an entire driver suite for windows. You could gut the linux install, load up windows with the drivers. Get two docks, one for the desktop and the other for your tv. Dock it on the desk for a normal desktop experience, You have SD Card and Network Shares for expanded storage. If you want to game on the TV just connect a Xbox controller to it, otherwise just time before we get another steam controller. For me this is temping largely for the fact that windows can be installed and I'd be able to boot up games off my Gamepass.

solarkraft 5y ago

Poor iFixit. But this is exactly how you do it. People are curious what it looks inside and you don’t want them to open it? Just show them what’s inside and take their reason to open it. It’s similar to warnings. “Don’t do x” is easy to not take seriously since people can say it for all kinds of reasons, “... because it would kill you” is pretty convincing.

conradludgate 5y ago

Remember. Right to repair isn't necessarily about having repairs or upgrades be super easy and anyone can do it. But to make the parts, schematics and information accessible by those that are trained to repair and upgrade them. You can repair a car. Doesn't mean you should repair your own car. Making a mistake can be dangerous. But professionals who know what they are doing have easy access to components and information about the layout of your cars internals if they need them.

rPlayer6554 5y ago

I think this is a fair enough position. I don't expect every device to be easily repairable, especially a gen 1 device. They already have enough trouble getting it to fit into a size that is usable. They give clear reasons for you not to do repairs yourself, but they don't impose any arbitrary restrictions. If you want to void your warranty, they give you the full freedom and knowledge to do so.

beezischillin 5y ago

I'm not necessarily a fan of the complicated design but I accept that it might've been necessary for miniaturisation. Other than that, to me the message of this video is that if anything goes people will have replacement parts available and a repair shop can take care of it. Assuming that's the intention it's still pretty good.

PoignardAzur 5y ago

In general, Valve is really consumer-friendly when it comes to hardware. I recently destroyed my Index's tether cable, mostly my fault, and their tech support sent me a new one for free with very little hassle, and with instructions on how to replace it.

tediousdemise 5y ago

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.

ecf 5y ago
Easy to repair, inexpensive, high quality It’s choose two situation, no?
- tediousdemise 5y ago
  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™.
  - Spivak 5y ago
    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.
  - shephardjhon 5y ago
    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
colejohnson66 5y ago
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 average user and that they shouldn’t mess with it, but they also are going to provide replacement parts and a teardown guide should you know what you’re doing. That’s a step in the right direction. [a]: yes, I’m sure some would want this (especially if you asked on here), but I’d bet that the majority of non-tech people don’t care