I’m also interested to see how the Legion Go will perform/compete. What makes that more interesting than the Ally is the expanded input selection and the “joy con” like controllers. If we could combine that with SteamOS or a similar OS to create a similar software experience, I think it would be a lucrative alternative.

The problem I have with the Ally is that for the performance improvement on the hardware side, you lose input selection, the optimized OS, and the battery life to run the bigger titles. Just not enough “oomph” to push me to commit to another handheld device.

I think the biggest single factor they point out is the software side of things, in combination with the other factors such as hardware/price. Although the Deck ain’t beefy, it’s got enough juice to do a lot at a battery rate that isn’t terribly abysmal, especially for lighter indie titles and emulation.

The other factor here is outside support and adoption. There are tons of options for third party customization, such as skins, buttons, pads, cases, etc. Not saying these don’t exist for the competition, just not at the same scale. Kind of like finding support for a niche android phone versus an iPhone.

Same. I’m no Linux veteran, but after messing with distros over the past two years between popos, Ubuntu, Linux4Tegra (distro for a hacked switch), and now SteamOS, I’ve boned up a little bit on what’s available. I recently saw a YouTube video highlighting some shenanigans from RedHat which, like you, makes me hesitant to give it a shot.