Stock up on spare parts once available

[subcon959]

We saw with the recent partial teardown that the Steam Deck uses custom parts for the thumbsticks and to some extent even the SSD.

It was also mentioned in the video that Valve will provide some spare parts in the coming months, which is pretty awesome, I think it would be a good idea to try and grab a couple spare sticks as soon as they go on sale. We don't know how many years those parts will be available, and I can see a situation down the line where it will get difficult to fix stick drift without the proper replacement.

I think it's interesting they said they would provide SSDs too. Although, I fully expect plenty of user testing to find compatible third party modules, it would be nice to upgrade using an officially sourced one.

 

[FAST6191]

Parts availability if we can assume say 10 years out when it starts getting fun (bit less if it is a major flop, bit more if it is a success and not replaced by a new model a year fro now with different sticks, unpredictable if they somehow hose up the stick design) .
By that point I am expecting 3d printing and rapid fabrication of suitable circuits to make quite nice, if not superior, drop in replacements. Could almost see it today, especially if someone opts for something other than silly carbon wipers.

 

[subcon959]

I'm not sure if I could see Valve supplying parts for 10 years. Although, it might make sense for them to use the same stick assembly on a future model. Maybe it's a result of the current climate but I get the feeling that scarcity could be the norm for a few years, so I'd be tempted to grab them early.

The 3D printing idea sounds nice but not sure how accessible that would be to the average user.

 

[FAST6191]

Valve might not do them for 10 years but that would be around the time I expect to still see them on more dedicated sites, amazon, ebay and the like.

3d printing is plenty accessible even now. Loads of people rent theirs out, and stuff like shapeways and all those other "send us your 3d models and we send you items from our $100k printers" sites will happily do otherwise. Even more so with injection moulding getting to be within hobbyist range, especially for things as small as control sticks.