Steam Deck Tablet

Slice and dice your way to a better mini pc.

StreighDog

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Description

Inspired by the portable NES, PS2, and other console projects, it seemed like a good idea to take something portable and make it slightly more portable...

The buttons and controllers are peripherals to the Steam Deck, and the machine can operate without them. Removing the extra pieces will yield a tablet capable of playing amazing games and running full fledged computer applications.

Throw it in a mini arcade cabinet. Make a mini pinball game. Hook it up to the TV for some work. Try some Winamp in the car.

Details

This began as an idea to make the Steam Deck even more portable... I didn't say it was a good idea. It's just my idea :)

The concept is simple. Get rid of the controllers, and make a tablet similar to the older ultra portable PCs.

Admittedly, the case could use some work. If anyone out there has decent design skills, I'll gladly take some help :)

Files

Steam Deck Clip On v7lefty.stl Non-speaker side Standard Tesselated Geometry - 585.77 kB - 06/23/2023 at 17:43		Download
Steam Deck Clip On v7righty.stl Speaker side Standard Tesselated Geometry - 946.08 kB - 06/23/2023 at 17:43		Download
Steam Deck Clip On v6.skp Sketchup file that includes deck, clip-on stand, lefty, and righty x-koan - 14.28 MB - 06/23/2023 at 17:43		Download

Components

1 × Steam Deck

Build Instructions

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1

Faceplate Cutting

Using the trackpad holes as a guide, use painter's tape to mark your cutting line.

Cut straight up and down along the edge closest to the center hole.
2

Main Block Cutting

Cut the pieces of the metal block that stick out until you have something closely resembling a rectangle.
An angle grinder makes this quick, but use short bursts of grinding and cover the components if you want to leave the board and battery in place.
Now is also a good time to reroute the speakers as shown.
3

Backplate cutting

Put the metal block, faceplate, and backplate together, and use painter's tape to mark cutting lines. Disassemble, then cut the backplate.
I chose to leave an extra piece of plastic on the speaker side to act as support.