Steam is giving me options for a return and I'm hoping for advice
I just bought the 256GB Deck at the beginning of this month and it arrived on the 10th for $529. On the 13th they announced the OLED Deck and dropped the price of the 256GB Deck to $399.
I wrote to Steam customer service and asked if I could return the deck and purchase the OLED model for $30 more and they wrote back with two options:
return the deck, get a refund, and then buy the OLED model
keep the deck I own and get $130 in my Steam Wallet.
I'm not sure which option to choose. On the one hand, $130 is a nice chunk of change to buy some games. On the other hand, a brand new, bigger, and nicer deck is worth waiting a couple weeks and $30.
Go for the OLED. Hands down. The battery life is better. The weak points (bumper buttons) are improved. The cooling is better/quieter. The APU is sort of better. I've heard the screen looks much better. The screen is slightly larger.
I'm happy with my SD (512GB with the anti glare glass screen), but I've had it for over a year now. If I had the option of sending it back and paying another $175 to get the oled I'd do it immediately. I'm not sad about it or anything, but if the option was there, I'd definitely take it.
I'd get the OLED. I wouldn't be able to stop thinking that there's a newer, better version out there that I could've had.
Especially if you have already have games to play on the deck in your library.
The only thing putting me off of the oled model... is the oled.
Oled objectively looks better - for 1 to 3 years.
My wife's name is burned into the top of my phone's screen, which is oled.
If they offered an improved LCD model with a higher color accuracy panel, refresh rate, and VRR/HDR like the oled panel, and all the other improvements, i would instantly be all over it.
A friend of mine got the Deck HD and it looks good. I couldn't tell too much of a difference between it and the stock screen's color gamut but it was good regardless. The only thing I noticed off about it was that the pixels around the edge of the bezels seem to be underneath it a smidge, giving a weird effect of the edges getting cut off if you look at it at a weird angle.
I'm fairly techy, though I've been trying to move away from a lot of it.
On my previous 5 years old phone the OLED looks as good as it did when it was new.
My LG OLED TV of 4 years looks as good as it did when new.
I had a PS Vita for about 4 years and the OLED was good as new when I sold it.
I’m not questioning your experience but OLED can last a lot longer than 1-3 years if it’s of good quality and the software has features to help preserve the pixels.
I wouldn't want to be a fool, that's for sure. You're the first of 3 people to tell me to upgrade, so that's what I'm going to do. I just hope my girlfriend hasn't thrown away the box it came in.