The Steam Deck dock is finally here and will ship faster than you think
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After months of waiting and delays, Valve has finally announced that the Steam Deck dock is available for purchase on its official site.
Not only that, but according to Valvewill ship the dock in an incredibly fast one to two weeks, which comes with the fact that the steam deck itself now ships with no waiting time (not to mention that it is incredibly easy to set up). The port selection is pretty solid too, with the dock featuring three USB-A 3.1 gen 1 ports, one Ethernet port, a DisplayPort 1.4, and an HDMI 2.0 port. And it uses a USB-C pass-through delivery for its power supply.
A Steam Deck dock costs $90 (about £81 / AU$140), which is a bit steeper than most third-party options on the market today. But for those who are still waiting for an official product, the price probably won’t be an issue.
Is it worth buying?
Considering that even Steam Decks themselves ship without a queue and that the dock has such fast delivery, it seems that the supply chain issues that Valve held onto are loosening considerably.
However, the deck itself is far from perfect. Due to the fact that it uses USB-C for the display port, a third-party USB-C dock that uses its own power supply and video output will show the display from the official dock.
And as mentioned, the official Steam Deck dock price is steeper than many third-party options on the market, meaning those on a budget can forgo this product in favor of a cheaper one.
There are also some bugs that Valve is working on right now, including one related to LG display compatibility. According to the FAQ, if the “docking station is connected via HDMI, sleep/wake may result in visual noise.”
It might be worth waiting for Valve to work out the kinks of its dock before investing in it. And while you wait, explore other options that might better suit your needs.