ASUS Details ROG Ally Specs - $699 Gaming Handheld With AMD Z1 Extreme

[Tian]

Not saying linux or windows is better but I really like that I can simply press the power button on my SteamDeck any time and may even let it sleep for weeks without worrying about losing any progress because the OS did a forced reboot because of some OS update. Also the whole A/B-partition setup on the SteamDeck is a blessing. Not sure how easy it would be to fix a broken windows on the Ally without a keyboard/mouse and some dongles.

Honestly the Ally seems to me more like a laptop merged with a controller than a mobile console. Which is fine, but I like my SteamDeck mainly because it feels like a mobile console. Hence why I'm sort of confused why the SteamDeck and the Ally are compared to another. In my eyes they scratch a different itch like a normal laptop and a chromebook.

You feel that way about the ally because that what it is a laptop in the formfactor of a handheld just like the switch would be a phone with controllers if not for the custom os it runs. The thing that differentiates a PC from a console its not the hardware (specially in the current and past gen) but the software (os), the experience, without that its just another PC in a more exotic formfactor. People never had thought on the experience in pc handhelds before because while it was bad and everyone said it it was also all there was to it, its windows you have to deal with it, but with steam os all that changed because it showed the normal people that there is another, better, way to run and experience PC games in a handheld formfactor.

[WorBlux]

• Benchmarks show that it's twice as fast in absolute most benchmarks, be it CPU or GPU or both. Wait, did I ever mention performance per watt or you just pulled this argument out of thin air?
• Linux has no overhead, right? DXVK runs for free, right? KDE Plasma is a lean nice environment, right? No!
• So, you've run no tests yet you claim it will eat up a lot of power. Did I get it right? Also, it won't be able to run at 60Hz, right? Wrong.
• So, while the option is there, you can as well never use it, it's still not good, right? God, what a way to turn things inside out.

Amazing counter-arguments. All zero of them.

- Who are we?
- Linux lovers!
- What do we do?
- We hate!

**It's a handheld gaming device that runs on battery. If you are useing it for gameing on the go, then it's really all that matters. Look at the video LinusTechTips just dropped. Steamdeck actually wins at 10W - (about 3 and change hours of gaming on a charge). At 15W (2 and change hrs) asus gets a lead (which given the hardware isn't unexpected). Then at 30W turbo mode it's fast, but it's just over an hour of battery life.

Of course 120HZ is going to eat up more power than 60. My point isn't that you can't run a 120 display at 60 or 40, but if your worried about battery life at all, (which you are in the advertised "on the go gaming device" , then you probably aren't going to use the feature very much. Same for the external GPU connection.

Yes, I personally love linux, but that's not the point, I'm examining this from a mainstream perspective of "just install linux on the Asus device" as a non-starter.

And I'm not telling anyone to get one over the other, but the ally is far from a steamdeck killer. On it''s core focus - an on the go gaming experience the deck is quite competent, though of course not perfect.

[QwertyChouskie]

Nice [bleep]ing ad hominem. Never ceases to amaze me how Michael doesn't care about this.

Windows has been a ton more secure than Linux over the past decade. It's about the boot process (signature verification of the entire boot process - not just the kernel as in Linux, you're free to embed malware in initrd), files/image security, the kernel, anti-exploitation techniques (including HVCI), built-in very power per-app firewall, drivers isolation, etc. etc. etc.

It's funny to read that I get paychecks from Redmond when I'm typing this comment on Fedora 38 and I've been using Linux longer (over 25 years now) than many people here have lived. It's funny to read this from the people who most likely have never filed a single bug report or written a single line of code for the OS they worship.

If this handheld sucks so much, if you hate Windows so much, why are you even in this discussion? Move on! Only likeminded people will hear you, LOL.

I'm that rare person here on these forums who recognizes Windows and Linux for what they are, not blindingly/stupidly/zealously loving one over another.

Microsoft considers the ability to bypass UAC (a.k.a. privilege escalation) "not a bug".

https://tryhackme.com/room/bypassinguac

Windows security is atrocious.

[WorBlux]

...

any sane person who does not worship Satan should wait for the steam deck 2 instead.

..

Valve's statements have me believe they aren't going to be releasing it with a zen4 z series APU.... Most likely that are going to skip a gen, and a deck 2 may not materialize in a timely fashion.

[blackcat]

Valve's statements have me believe they aren't going to be releasing it with a zen4 z series APU.... Most likely that are going to skip a gen, and a deck 2 may not materialize in a timely fashion.

Unfortunately it seems like it will be a while before any steamdeck 2 comes out. I'm speculating that they might do some sort of minor hardware refreshes though.

[Paradigm Shifter]

Linux will run on it just fine but who cares, let's hate it because ASUS doesn't want to waste a ton of money supporting a hobby OS where nothing is ever stable.

Chances are, though, that Linux will not run "just fine" on it, as Asus has repeatedly demonstrated the release of hardware with crippling problems in Linux - things like "any key to shut down" on laptops. Sure, newer kernels fix this, but laptop keyboards have been around a very long time and Asus is the only company I'm aware of which has managed that particular trick.

Windows has been a ton more secure than Linux over the past decade.

*cough*

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb5025885-how-to-manage-the-windows-boot-manager-revocations-for-secure-boot-changes-associated-with-cve-2023-24932-41a975df-beb2-40c1-99a3-b3ff139f832d

Microsoft consistently screw up security. They're just far less open about it. Remember that security researchers occasionally release information about active vulnerabilities in Windows, and then get lambasted for it? It's usually because Microsoft were told months prior and took no action. In this case, however, Microsoft can't really hide it, because it requires manual intervention to fix. I find it amusing that the "secure" system they developed and hold complete control over (to the detriment of competing operating systems) - they can't even keep "secure".

Um, nice discussion we've got here, more people join in to support ad hominem and insults. "Microshite" has a valuation close to $2.3 billion. What have you achieved? May I get your credentials please? Or you're here anonymously to slander incredibly successful companies?

Microsoft are in that dominant position due in no small part to a lot of really dirty stuff early in the history of the company - things which, now, would get people serious prison time. Or, at least, would get "the little people" serious prison time. Some were illegal even then, but seem to have been ignored. Some are only illegal now. It's remarkably convenient for big companies when the law gets changed so that no one else can attempt to replicate their tactics and actions without having a hammer dropped on them.

[pinguinpc]

Microsoft considers the ability to bypass UAC (a.k.a. privilege escalation) "not a bug".

Is not a bug is like some said ago a "feature"

[HEL88]

No trackpads = dead on arrival

I play on my PC only on the gamepad without trackpads.

What am I doing wrong? Because I understand that without trackpads it should not be possible to play?

Nintendo Switch, most popular console, also has trackpads of course? Right?

[writequit]

1. What parts of the internet? Most high speed Internet switches are on OSes which have nothing to do with Linux, i.e. Cisco.
.

You know IOS-XE and IOS-XR run on top of linux right?

[Danny3]

• No Linux kernel!
• No Mesa drivers!
• No KDE Plasma!

And it also comes with the closed source, spyware infested and bloatware Windows.

So it's definitely a no thanks for me!