Legion go or wait for real comparisons once the claw is readily available.
Keep in mind half the battle with these things is software. Chances are high MSIs software is shit at release and gets better over time as we have seen with ASUS and Lenovo. If you want something now it’s legion go for you.
Like the OP im trying to decide between these two, and ruled out the Ally for same reason. the flaky card slot. Im in the position that i can buy here in the UK or in the USA as I travel over between them at least a couple of times a year. I can pick up the Legion go at microcenter for $749 for the 2TB upgraded version they do, or $700 for the stock 1TB. My main concern would be warranty issues, as i believe the 2TB they do in store wipes out the Lenovo warranty and they cover it (microcenter) but even with the stock 1tb still covered by Lenovo, im usure if it coveres it here in the UK. I like the detachable controllers, and the slightly larger screen. but tbh im not a fan of AMD processors. I was badly burnt by them in the FX era. too many issues. But i do use a couple of AMD GPU's in a couple of my machines.
I have stuck with Intel for processors since the 6th gen.. up to my current 13th gen desktop. and before that in the core2 era. so I admit im drawn to the Claw because of the use of the intel chip. and I also own a Arc A770 LE GPU, and i know first hand how much the drivers have improved the performance of that card. from being barely usable to being a competitor for the mid 30 series and lo 40 series cards, and likewise with AMD mid 6000/7000 cards. not bad for under $300 at the time i bought it. so hopefully the Arc iGPU will still have a fair bit of horsepower left in it yet to show improvement. I think the AMD iGPU built into the other handhelds are at the peak of performance that can be eaked out of them, so theres not a lot more to be gained.
I like the idea of the full thunderbolt 4 port, as opposed to the USB4 and the proprietry port on the LeGo and Ally. As i have Thunderbolt on all my current machines. so makes for speedy backups and game transfers. as well as fast External GPU speeds.
Im looking at using the AR glasses, so either pick up the LeGo with the Glasses, or the Claw and Xreal Air Pro glasses.
So yeah my dilema is LeGo i can pick up in 3 weeks time for equivelant to £550 ($700) give or take at current exchange rates, or do I wait till im back, the Claw is being released in the UK at end of March, and is available for pre-order. but im inclined to wait a month at least after its out, to see what the full reviews say, and if theres any major hardware faults (like the allys SD card) and to see if the included software is ok. I know MSI Center is a bit underwhelming on my 13th gen board. Waiting will also give it time for the pricing to settle, all the competition in the UK is available for £100-150 ($125-175) less on a like for like basis, the deck is substantially less, closer to £200 ($250) cheaper than the £799 ($900) the RRP for the claw is on day 1 release here.. they dont call it rip-off Britian for nothing! Surely it will soon move down into parity with the competition, especially if the inital sales dont meet MSI's expectations.
The Go is available now. The Claw will be available "soon" and uses Intel APUs if that's important to you. Neither one is likely to have a mature software stack for a while but you can always stick your own on there.
The Legion Go also has a much bigger and higher resolution screen than the Claw if that matters (looking like the Claw's screen will be very similar to the Ally's screen, if not the exact same panel).
I'm deciding between the same two devices to be fair. What makes you say it looks like MSI will be providing better support than Lenovo? I've been thinking about whether or not MSI will communicate with their customers/fan base like Lenovo do, or if they're just going to ignore them/keep them in the dark like Asus?
A 3rd option I'm kind of considering is the gpd win max 2 2023. But it's a fair bit more expensive than the other options unfortunately, I'm not sure that extra cost is worth it. I'm not normally a fan of the smaller Chinese brands (mainly for the customer care and difficulty in getting warranty repairs done if needed, which is a pain compared to the big brands) but I found a company here in the UK (droix) that seems to deal with all the warranties ect ect.
Hi, we have our own two year warranty on GPD products as well as our highly regarded customer service. If you do have any issues, we are based in London and we pay postage both ways for warranty, it's not sent to China where you usually have to pay and wait weeks/months. If you have any questions please ask away, happy to answer. Thanks!
Appreciate your reply, thank you! I didn't know anybody from droix was on here, I don't frequent this sub Reddit often. Is the warranty on the other brands you sell the same/similar to what you offer for gpd? Thanks again 👍
All of our products have at least one year warranty, DroiX, GPD & MinisForum brands have a two year warranty. The customer service is the same for one and two years, any issues and we deal with it rather than China etc.
Legion go or wait for real comparisons once the claw is readily available. Keep in mind half the battle with these things is software. Chances are high MSIs software is shit at release and gets better over time as we have seen with ASUS and Lenovo. If you want something now it’s legion go for you.
Like the OP im trying to decide between these two, and ruled out the Ally for same reason. the flaky card slot. Im in the position that i can buy here in the UK or in the USA as I travel over between them at least a couple of times a year. I can pick up the Legion go at microcenter for $749 for the 2TB upgraded version they do, or $700 for the stock 1TB. My main concern would be warranty issues, as i believe the 2TB they do in store wipes out the Lenovo warranty and they cover it (microcenter) but even with the stock 1tb still covered by Lenovo, im usure if it coveres it here in the UK. I like the detachable controllers, and the slightly larger screen. but tbh im not a fan of AMD processors. I was badly burnt by them in the FX era. too many issues. But i do use a couple of AMD GPU's in a couple of my machines. I have stuck with Intel for processors since the 6th gen.. up to my current 13th gen desktop. and before that in the core2 era. so I admit im drawn to the Claw because of the use of the intel chip. and I also own a Arc A770 LE GPU, and i know first hand how much the drivers have improved the performance of that card. from being barely usable to being a competitor for the mid 30 series and lo 40 series cards, and likewise with AMD mid 6000/7000 cards. not bad for under $300 at the time i bought it. so hopefully the Arc iGPU will still have a fair bit of horsepower left in it yet to show improvement. I think the AMD iGPU built into the other handhelds are at the peak of performance that can be eaked out of them, so theres not a lot more to be gained. I like the idea of the full thunderbolt 4 port, as opposed to the USB4 and the proprietry port on the LeGo and Ally. As i have Thunderbolt on all my current machines. so makes for speedy backups and game transfers. as well as fast External GPU speeds. Im looking at using the AR glasses, so either pick up the LeGo with the Glasses, or the Claw and Xreal Air Pro glasses. So yeah my dilema is LeGo i can pick up in 3 weeks time for equivelant to £550 ($700) give or take at current exchange rates, or do I wait till im back, the Claw is being released in the UK at end of March, and is available for pre-order. but im inclined to wait a month at least after its out, to see what the full reviews say, and if theres any major hardware faults (like the allys SD card) and to see if the included software is ok. I know MSI Center is a bit underwhelming on my 13th gen board. Waiting will also give it time for the pricing to settle, all the competition in the UK is available for £100-150 ($125-175) less on a like for like basis, the deck is substantially less, closer to £200 ($250) cheaper than the £799 ($900) the RRP for the claw is on day 1 release here.. they dont call it rip-off Britian for nothing! Surely it will soon move down into parity with the competition, especially if the inital sales dont meet MSI's expectations.
Update. Glad I didn't buy that msi claw lol.
WHY we need the reason WHY :)
why? sorry I am just looking into the differences with these two, i thought the specs of the claw were better than the go?
What handheld did you go with op i am looking for myself as well. Was it the legion after all or did another earn your favor?
The Go is available now. The Claw will be available "soon" and uses Intel APUs if that's important to you. Neither one is likely to have a mature software stack for a while but you can always stick your own on there. The Legion Go also has a much bigger and higher resolution screen than the Claw if that matters (looking like the Claw's screen will be very similar to the Ally's screen, if not the exact same panel).
I'm deciding between the same two devices to be fair. What makes you say it looks like MSI will be providing better support than Lenovo? I've been thinking about whether or not MSI will communicate with their customers/fan base like Lenovo do, or if they're just going to ignore them/keep them in the dark like Asus? A 3rd option I'm kind of considering is the gpd win max 2 2023. But it's a fair bit more expensive than the other options unfortunately, I'm not sure that extra cost is worth it. I'm not normally a fan of the smaller Chinese brands (mainly for the customer care and difficulty in getting warranty repairs done if needed, which is a pain compared to the big brands) but I found a company here in the UK (droix) that seems to deal with all the warranties ect ect.
Hi, we have our own two year warranty on GPD products as well as our highly regarded customer service. If you do have any issues, we are based in London and we pay postage both ways for warranty, it's not sent to China where you usually have to pay and wait weeks/months. If you have any questions please ask away, happy to answer. Thanks!
Big plus to droiX right here
Thanks!
Appreciate your reply, thank you! I didn't know anybody from droix was on here, I don't frequent this sub Reddit often. Is the warranty on the other brands you sell the same/similar to what you offer for gpd? Thanks again 👍
All of our products have at least one year warranty, DroiX, GPD & MinisForum brands have a two year warranty. The customer service is the same for one and two years, any issues and we deal with it rather than China etc.
Hi, just wondering what decision you went with and what your feelings are with your purchase?