Retro and current gen gaming chat, with Trev and Stu, its the Console Shockcast! PC gaming handhelds have evolved fast since Valve shook things up by revealing the Steam Deck in 2021—but what should a true second-generation Valve handheld look like? Trev and Stu break down what would actually make a Steam Deck 2 a meaningful upgrade, drawing on features from newer PC handhelds and asking which ones Valve should steal, refine, or ignore entirely. In this episode:

We kick things off with EA FC 26 somehow running on a 12-year-old laptop

Valve nailed the original form factor—but is it time for a higher-resolution display?

Modern handhelds are pushing higher TDPs for extra performance—should Valve move beyond the 15-watt limit?

A more modular design, including easily user-replaceable SSDs, for better long-term upgrades

Is a 5× performance jump over the original Steam Deck the bare minimum expectation?

Bigger batteries for longer, truly untethered gaming sessions

Hall-effect joysticks to finally put stick drift in the bin

A next-gen dock with Switch-style performance boosts when docked

If that’s still not enough power… is it time for external GPU support? Whether you’re all-in on Valve’s handheld future or just curious where PC portables are heading next, this one’s for you. Check out Trev and Al’s other podcast where they reminisce about a different episode of Star Trek every month! : https://longrangesensors.com/episodes Intro/Outro Music – Turn The Page (Tutorial Theme) – Ridge Racer Type 4 (1998) – Sony Playstation – Composer(s): Hiroshi Okubo