This is an outstanding piece that perfectly captures the identity crisis at the heart of the handheld gaming PC market. Your observation that these devices look like consoles but work like computers (in ways both good and bad) is exactly right - the cognitive dissonance between the form factor promise and the Windows 11 setup reality is massive. I also apprecate your point about always getting the faster processor: the Z2 vs Z2 Extreme performance gap you documented (struggling to get Cyberpunk 2077 into the mid/high-40s fps vs fluid gameplay) is the difference between a frustrating and satisfying experience. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 with 32GB RAM and 8.8-inch OLED sounds phenomenal, though that $1,350 price tag is absolutely wild compared to the Steam Deck's $400 starting point. Your prediction about the next Xbox being obviously a desktop PC in a different plastic box feels inevitable - Microsoft is clearly prioritizing the wider PC platform over traditional console exclusivity. Great piece!
This might be dating me, but this discussion of form factor vs. the guts of the machine reminds me of the 20+ year-old talking point about the GBA being essentially a portable SNES.
It makes me think of, among other things, how the streaming hegemony is blurring the boundary between what is a film/what is a tv show/what is a minseries/etc. in the film & tv world.
This is an outstanding piece that perfectly captures the identity crisis at the heart of the handheld gaming PC market. Your observation that these devices look like consoles but work like computers (in ways both good and bad) is exactly right - the cognitive dissonance between the form factor promise and the Windows 11 setup reality is massive. I also apprecate your point about always getting the faster processor: the Z2 vs Z2 Extreme performance gap you documented (struggling to get Cyberpunk 2077 into the mid/high-40s fps vs fluid gameplay) is the difference between a frustrating and satisfying experience. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 with 32GB RAM and 8.8-inch OLED sounds phenomenal, though that $1,350 price tag is absolutely wild compared to the Steam Deck's $400 starting point. Your prediction about the next Xbox being obviously a desktop PC in a different plastic box feels inevitable - Microsoft is clearly prioritizing the wider PC platform over traditional console exclusivity. Great piece!
This might be dating me, but this discussion of form factor vs. the guts of the machine reminds me of the 20+ year-old talking point about the GBA being essentially a portable SNES.
Some good points.
It makes me think of, among other things, how the streaming hegemony is blurring the boundary between what is a film/what is a tv show/what is a minseries/etc. in the film & tv world.