I want to play games like civ that are better played using mouse controls via the touch pads, so I want to use the steam deck as a controller. But the screen is a little too small and some games don’t have good ui scaling so I want to be able to play on the TV. What’s the best/easiest/cheapest way I can play on the TV while still using the steam deck as a controller? I have a Vizio tv that doesn’t support steam link but does support casting. Thanks!

6 points

I bought a cheap dock from aliexpress and a really long USB-C Male to USB-C Female Cable. My solution is not pretty or wireless but works.

permalink
report
reply
5 points

Cheapest is just to buy a dock/usb-c to HDMI and use a long cable (either long usb-c or long HDMI) to plug into your tv.

There are wireless HDMI dongles and even USB type c ones that would let this happen wirelessly, but you’ll want to check reviews and make sure the latency isn’t that bad.

Alternative cheap option is to get an android based tv stream box/stick, install the steam link software, and try to stream to that.

Finally you could just get a wireless mouse or some other wireless control option for using a computer mouse wirelessly. Keyboard with a laptop touchpad, trackball mouse, etc.

permalink
report
reply
4 points

If it’s about the touch pad controls you may want to check eBay for a Steam Controller.

I had mine in a drawer for years until the steam deck came out. Now I’m using it again quite a bit to play mouse-controlled games on my Steam Deck connected to the TV.

permalink
report
reply
4 points
*
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
reply
1 point

This seems to be the best option out of everything commented here so far, but it is really disappointing that there is not a way to use the Steam Deck as a Bluetooth controller for a different PC.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Thanks for the responses everyone! I ended up getting a long HDMI cable and using it with a usb-c hub I already had. The setup is pretty bulky so I might end up velcroing it per morgan’s comment to reduce the pressure on the connection. And having a cable run across the whole room is… less than ideal. I think if I end up using this a lot, I’d probably just opt for a Steam Controller

permalink
report
reply
0 points

I’ve been using these usb-c extension cables. So I can leave the hub and charger behind the tv and have just one usb-c come to my steam deck. Highly recommend!

https://www.amazon.com/Extension-JSAUX-Female-Extender-MacBook/dp/B08DKH4CP9

permalink
report
parent
reply

Steam Deck

!steamdeck@sopuli.xyz

Create post

A place to discuss and support all things Steam Deck.

Replacement for r/steamdeck_linux.

As Lemmy doesn’t have flairs yet, you can use these prefixes to indicate what type of post you have made, eg:
[Flair] My post title

The following is a list of suggested flairs:
[Discussion] - General discussion.
[Help] - A request for help or support.
[News] - News about the deck.
[PSA] - Sharing important information.
[Game] - News / info about a game on the deck.
[Update] - An update to a previous post.
[Meta] - Discussion about this community.

Some more Steam Deck specific flairs:
[Boot Screen] - Custom boot screens/videos.
[Selling] - If you are selling your deck.

These are not enforced, but they are encouraged.

Rules:

  • Follow the rules of Sopuli
  • Posts must be related to the Steam Deck in an obvious way.
  • No piracy, there are other communities for that.
  • Discussion of emulators are allowed, but no discussion on how to illegally acquire ROMs.
  • This is a place of civil discussion, no trolling.
  • Have fun.

Link to our Matrix Space

Community stats

  • 2.9K

    Monthly active users

  • 1.1K

    Posts

  • 20K

    Comments