• zero01101@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    plus:

    • screen’s fantastic
    • speakers’re fantastic
    • cpu’s fantastic
    • feels nice to hold
    • only 2 back triggers to learn to avoid and/or deal with

    minus:

    • single usb-c
    • it’s on the top
    • no nifty touchpads
    • battery is definitely a bit stressed
    • cloud restore only works if your warranty is active apparently which i promise will be annoying

    nightmare:

    • the windows 11 and asus trashware startup experience; i mean my god, i had to do the cloud reinstall to even login to the thing reliably

    on first boot OOBE i tried to just login with my existing personal ms account which i guess was my first mistake, but it worked fine. i added a fingerprint and it also worked fine. i then added a PIN and it also worked fine. windows downloaded updates and demanded a reboot which is fine. it rebooted and i logged in with a thumbprint just fine. then armoury crate said HEY FIRMWARE UPDATE DEMANDS REBOOT so ok fine reboot and down the spiral we go. fingerprint doesn’t work. PIN fails, “something went wrong” with a side of 0xd0000225 over and over. check bios, v317. event viewer says something about some exe with “biometric” in its title failing repeatedly. looks like i have to update through armory crate again? oh, the asus app? does that require me to sign up? it sure looks like it does… ok no, just dark patterns. more updates. more failed login attempts and the most alerts from MS authenticator i’ve ever had in one afternoon. bios v319, windows and my asus and armoire box all claim everything’s as up to date as one can get, but you’re sure gonna have to get a notification and cancel a request to reset your PIN on each login

    i genuinely thought it might be headed for a refund, but shift+f10 and OOBE\BYPASSNRO after cloud restore let me make a local account and it’s been smooth since, but i’ve barely installed we <3 katamari reroll on it

    • zurohki@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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      1 year ago

      The more I hear about Windows these last few years, the more it feels like I got out just in time.

      Gaming on Linux just keeps getting better, and doing anything on Windows just keeps getting worse.

        • Sparkko@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          This is the main reason I won’t be getting rid of my Steam Deck for the Ally. Setup was super smooth, and for the most part everything just works. Barring a few issues with proton here and there, but I haven’t had many with the games I play. Windows on a handheld sounds like a craptastic idea to me.

      • linuxpng@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s complicated. I work for a FOSS company and I like what the WINE team and Valve have accomplished with proton. However, a lot of games struggle with cut scenes even with GE proton. A couple examples are Call of Juarez Gunslinger (the cut scene audio is crackly) and Persona 5 strikers (the cutscenes are missing the dialog). Games that will not enable the anticheat are also, obviously, a no go. Not the fault of Linux or Valve, but still a consideration.

        One other feature that Windows offers is cloud syncing for games that store their saves in the user’s Documents folder if they enable onedrive. For games without Steam cloud saves, it’s simpler than setting up syncthing or copying the saves manually.

        I picked up a ROG Ally yesterday and I also own a Steamdeck. The Ally definitely has rougher edges in software. I’m still debating if I am going to keep it, but some of the Windows pros are a strong consideration. I think what is unsung is how flawless the Switch is with it’s docking and undocking experience. IMO neither the Deck or the Ally come close in that regard.

    • any1th3r3 [he/him]@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      haha, sorry to hear, but i’m not even surprised at that all failed login and almost-but-not-quite-refund debacle, that’s why i only ever set up local accounts on windows nowadays.
      i’d be interested to get your opinion on the Ally once you’ve had a chance to play a bit more with it, especially compared to the Deck.

    • Prion@lemmy.click
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      1 year ago

      How did you manage to launch CMD from the Ally? Is it possible using the built-in touch keyboard during setup? I don’t have a USB-C keyboard to connect, unfortunately.