I currently play most games thru emulators but been wondering whether it is worth it to get the Switch V1 version for handheld.
my plan would be putting the roms onto the Switch and then play handheld (is this possible?)
Playing when traveling, a few hours in bed before sleeping or cozy up next to the heather in the evening seems nice. However is it still worth around €300 euro for it, may I have your opinion on the matter?
I vote no.
Switch hardware in general is a much worse experience than emulation due to graphical limits, no save backups, etc.
If my understanding is correct, a used steam deck should be about €300, which will offer a much better experience for your switch games and play other games as well.
Compare it to the steam deck (a bit more pricey, but can also run emulators). If you want a more polished nintendo-like experience however, the switch is probably not a bad purchase (consider you have to add to it the hefty cost nintendo puts on their games and the fee for playing online, if you want to).
Well, my plan was to put the roms into the switch to play the games. Pirated the roms. But wasn’t certain if this is possible.
I’m not really planning to play online more of solo gamer
I think a Steam Deck is a better buy. It's a little more pricy sure, but a lot more powerful and a LOT more games to pick from. And it docks great, I mostly play docked to my TV
Worth it? Sure, but I'd try to grab a 2nd hand steamdeck instead, similar prices, but much more capable
As someone who has a V1, I'd say: only if you can somehow get it for free or for a very low price. (you mention €300, I'd say I wouldn't pay more than €180 for it in 2024).
The hardware is dated (the GPU was half-deprecated when it came out, and that's the only part of the hardware the scene got to break through), your SD card port is going to have a notoriously low life expectancy so you'll be relying on a PC or an Android with USB to perform any important adjustments, who knows what conditions the unboxed ones have been kept in since the Old Times, and for jailbreaking it you have to check that you can get one on low enough firmware to jailbreak software-only. Otherwise you're having to get into modchips, RCM clips et al.
Early model switch is the only switch worth getting unless you want to do a pretty microsoldering heavy hardmod, check the serial number against the list on this page before you buy
my plan would be putting the roms onto the Switch and then play handheld (is this possible?)
Jailbreaking a still supported console is generally pretty tough. I'm guessing you'll have to look for specific product numbers and firmware versions. For handheld gaming you could always get another device and use it for PC and retro emulators games. Steam deck is excellent, but pricey (and actually plays some switch games). On the slightly more affordable end there are the retroid pockets. There are hundreds of other cheap handheld emulators, but I'd do some reading into one before going with it.
