* The Official Steam Deck Thread *

jonneymendoza · 26 Jun 2023 at 20:29

Raiden85 said:
Can grab a 2TB on Ali as posted above for just over £100 and for £150 or so from other competitors in the UK. 2230 prices have dropped like a rock.

Is Ali legit? Always looked dodgy to me lmao

Rob_B · 26 Jun 2023 at 20:32

They can probably make them cheaper, but with them selling out constantly why would they?
Would be nice to have more than a 64GB minimum though.

purplesky · 26 Jun 2023 at 20:50

I bought a 2TB 2230 for my deck around 12 weeks ago from AliExpress for around £130. It's the WD SN740. It's much faster than the 256GB SSD my deck shipped with, not that it really matters. It's perfectly legit - serial number checks out and I've used various pieces of software to verify everything. I have my deck as a tri-boot, that is StreamOS, Windows 11, and Arch Linux. I've already used almost 1.75TB.

The concern with buying an SSD from Ali is the warranty. If it fails in the next couple of months or so, it might just be a waste of £130.

Guest2 · 26 Jun 2023 at 23:09

jonneymendoza said:
Is Ali legit? Always looked dodgy to me lmao

Why does it look dodgy?

I wont mention the Ali store here (even though OcUK don't sell 2230 SSDs) but the store has a 5 star rating, 32 reviews 97% 5 star and has sold 1,000+ WD 2230 SSDs. As @purplesky said, it might be difficult returning the drive / dealing with warranty should it fail. Guess thats the only downside.

Or pay £90 for the same thing from the big OcUK competitor. The photo of the drive looks less legit to me on there!

jonneymendoza · 26 Jun 2023 at 23:12

Guest2 said:
Why does it look dodgy?

I wont mention the Ali store here (even though OcUK don't sell 2230 SSDs) but the store has a 5 star rating, 32 reviews 97% 5 star and has sold 1,000+ WD 2230 SSDs. As @purplesky said, it might be difficult returning the drive / dealing with warranty should it fail. Guess thats the only downside.

Or pay £90 for the same thing from the big OcUK competitor. The photo of the drive looks less legit to me on there!

Ali the place itself. i been hearing about it and wondered if it was safe to get stuff there?

Anways can u PM me a link to the 2tb drive? thanks

Rob_B · 26 Jun 2023 at 23:13

Isn't Ali express similar to other online stores where you aren't buying directly from the so you might get good sellers but they're are also plenty of scammers on there.

Guest2 · 26 Jun 2023 at 23:17

jonneymendoza said:
Ali the place itself. i been hearing about it and wondered if it was safe to get stuff there?

Anways can u PM me a link to the 2tb drive? thanks

Depends on the seller but it not like Silk road

jonneymendoza · 27 Jun 2023 at 08:00

Rob_B said:
Isn't Ali express similar to other online stores where you aren't buying directly from the so you might get good sellers but they're are also plenty of scammers on there.

The sellers seem to all be based in Asia

TNA · 27 Jun 2023 at 08:13

S

jonneymendoza said:
The sellers seem to all be based in Asia

Surprised you never heard of em. They essentially the Chinese ebay as I understand it. They been around for at least 20 years now. I have used them a few times, but only on cheap stuff.

Guest2 · 27 Jun 2023 at 08:22

TNA said:
S

Surprised you never heard of em. They essentially the Chinese ebay as I understand it. They been around for at least 20 years now. I have used them a few times, but only on cheap stuff.

Didnt it used to be called Alibaba (or Aliexpress is part of the Alibaba group) which yes - has been around since the late 90s

jonneymendoza said:
The sellers seem to all be based in Asia

Buying Chinese / Asian products directy from China instead of middlemen who buy from them and take the £90 for themselves. Yes please

TNA · 27 Jun 2023 at 08:24

Guest2 said:
Didnt it used to be called Alibaba (or Aliexpress is part of the Alibaba group) which yes - has been around since the late 90s

Yep. Was called Alibaba back then. A mate used to buy loads of phone accessories and sell it on ebay back then.

Guest2 · 27 Jun 2023 at 09:35

TNA said:
Yep. Was called Alibaba back then. A mate used to buy loads of phone accessories and sell it on ebay back then.

Similar - A mate bought loads of cheap remote control helicopters and sold them over here. Made about 5k (way before public/toy drones were a thing)

Mesai · 27 Jun 2023 at 09:47

TNA said:
Yep. Was called Alibaba back then. A mate used to buy loads of phone accessories and sell it on ebay back then.

A lot of the items on Amazon are from there - definitely a sizeable markup. You’re basically paying for immediate gratification otherwise it can take a while to ship from China (depends on the vendor).

Guest2 · 27 Jun 2023 at 10:17

Mesai said:
A lot of the items on Amazon are from there - definitely a sizeable markup. You’re basically paying for immediate gratification otherwise it can take a while to ship from China (depends on the vendor).

Yeh, probably double the cost for some items but to have it arrive next day and with easy returns.

Raymond Lin · 27 Jun 2023 at 10:33

I buy from Aliexpress semi-frequently but never things that I would consider returning if it goes wrong. I got one of my retro handhelds there as the manufacturer has their own shop, it's a bit like Amazon Marketplace in China in a way.

One thing i am wary of is fakes on there, so i try to keep my purchases under £100.

Guest2 · 27 Jun 2023 at 14:53

Then there's Wish... Which I imagine in my head is a central distribution site for loads of Chinese slave labour factories

jrwagh333 · 27 Jun 2023 at 15:16

Mines going back for RMA for the left stick grinding

Guest2 · 27 Jun 2023 at 15:24

jrwagh333 said:
Mines going back for RMA for the left stick grinding

I'm awaiting my new replacement from RMA.

FYI, you can see your deck hardware by going here, then select your deck - https://store.steampowered.com/account/hardwareused

It shows detailed info and serials on SSD, Thumbsticks, Memory and Fan. Supplier names, part no.s and serials

champ222 · 29 Jun 2023 at 12:14

Raiden85 said:
With the massive drop in SSD prices latley especially 2230 drives I think Valve needs to update that capacity lineup. Surely they can drop the 64GB for a start, up that to a proper 256GB SSD then 512GB and 1TB while maintaining current prices or very close to it. 256GB 2230 drives Ali can be had for £24, and with the massive ammount Valve needs surley they can get that even cheaper.

Price of SSDs has never been the issue i dont think.

Dell, Apple etc have always way over charged for more storage. I bought the 64gb version and its enough for me. i use a 256gb SD card, that i already had. If i didnt already have it, i probably wouldnt have bought a bigger one. Maybe 512GB if i got a good deal. If that wasnt an option, i wouldnt have paid extra for one with more storage, i just wouldnt have bought it. I only use it for indie games and emulators, so i couldnt justify paying more than i did.

I need to get a dock for it and connect it to the TV. get some cheap controllers and introduce the kids to gaming. they are prone to meltdowns if they arent an instant expert at it though, so ive been a bit reluctant.

£349 for the 64gb, or maybe push it to 128gb
£459 for 512gb, maybe £479
and £579 maybe for 1TB makes more sense to me.

for those that need a decent amount of storage space, 256gb probably isnt really enough.
for those that dont, the 64gb is fine.

just my opinon.

I like the deck, and everything its about. Parts available, officially "OK" for DIY repair and upgrades. to me it makes all the difference when spending decent money on this.

The ROG Ally, i wouldnt touch it unless it came with a 5 year warranty. i assume it doesnt (though i havent checked, so maybe it does).

Guest2 · 29 Jun 2023 at 12:27

champ222 said:
Price of SSDs has never been the issue i dont think.

Dell, Apple etc have always way over charged for more storage. I bought the 64gb version and its enough for me. i use a 256gb SD card, that i already had. If i didnt already have it, i probably wouldnt have bought a bigger one. Maybe 512GB if i got a good deal. If that wasnt an option, i wouldnt have paid extra for one with more storage, i just wouldnt have bought it. I only use it for indie games and emulators, so i couldnt justify paying more than i did.

I need to get a dock for it and connect it to the TV. get some cheap controllers and introduce the kids to gaming. they are prone to meltdowns if they arent an instant expert at it though, so ive been a bit reluctant.

£349 for the 64gb, or maybe push it to 128gb
£459 for 512gb, maybe £479
and £579 maybe for 1TB makes more sense to me.

for those that need a decent amount of storage space, 256gb probably isnt really enough.
for those that dont, the 64gb is fine.

just my opinon.

I like the deck, and everything its about. Parts available, officially "OK" for DIY repair and upgrades. to me it makes all the difference when spending decent money on this.

The ROG Ally, i wouldnt touch it unless it came with a 5 year warranty. i assume it doesnt (though i havent checked, so maybe it does).

I too was fine with emulators and indie but when you start installing new games like Dirt Rally 2 (which works really well) you soon need a bigger SSD. DR2 is 109GB

Im sure they could just sell one Steam Deck. £450 for a 2TB version (seems as the public can buy 2TB SSDs for £103) Valve will be able to buy them in bulk for quite a bit cheaper

*** The Official Steam Deck Thread ***

* The Official Steam Deck Thread *