Someone used a broken Steam Deck as a mini PC and it's really cool

Key findings

  • Don't throw away broken technology – make something new out of it! It's inventive and environmentally friendly.
  • YouTuber Eta Prime has transformed a broken Steam Deck into a mini PC with impressive results.
  • EmuDeck is the first choice for emulation gaming on the go on a handheld PC device.



When a piece of tech breaks or becomes outdated, it's tempting to throw it away and buy a new one. After all, there will always be a similar or better model than the one that just broke, so why keep it? Some of the best projects, however, come from giving a broken piece of hardware a new life. It's cool, inventive, and saves another piece of tech from the landfill – what's not to like?

When a YouTuber got his hands on a broken Steam Deck, he did the right thing and turned it into a mini PC. And the results are really cool to see.


Related

EmuDeck hands-on: The best emulation suite for Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally and more

If you want to emulate on the go with a handheld PC gaming device, EmuDeck is by far the best solution.

Eta Prime on YouTube turns a Steam Deck into a mini PC

The feat was accomplished by Eta Prime, who details what he did in the YouTube video above. This isn't the first time Eta Prime has done something that's caught our attention – we last saw him in May when he used Winlator to turn a phone into a gaming PC. Now he's buying parts from a seller after he accidentally broke the LCD screen but didn't want to throw it away, knowing the internals were still perfectly fine.


The end result was pretty impressive. The spare parts handled the games Eta Prime threw at it and proved to be a potential motherboard for a DIY mini PC. The former Steam Deck looks a little sad sitting alone on a desk like that, so I'd love to see it with a mini PC case to protect it from the elements. That said, it's still a great project and shows that with a little ingenuity, you can save perfectly good hardware from the landfill and give it a new purpose.


Leave a Comment