Ditch the Desktop – Legion Go as your PC – Part 1

It wasn’t that long ago that the thought of running a portable device as my primary PC seemed to be impossible, I have been a long standing desktop holdout. Having the ultimate in customization and power seems to always trump the idea of running my day to day life off of a laptop or something else seems to win out. As I get older, I seem to be more into the idea of having my primary workstation be something else. At least, I should say, I am more open to it.

My desktop isn’t anything stellar, really. I mean, it is not by any stretch the top machine you can build, the nicest you can build, or the most expensive, but it gets the job done. As far as specs go, the CPU is an i5-13600K, it has 64GB RAM, a 5700XT (left over from a mining rig), and some Samsung Pro Storage. Respectable. I used to be an ASUS fanboy and for some reason I just always put up with poor quality to have the ASUS logo somewhere in the rig, now… not so much, Gigabyte is the motherboard today.

I have thought about using a laptop with a dock as my primary on and off for years, I have a decent gaming Laptop, an Alienware M16, but lugging it from downstairs where my office is to the kitchen or living room seemed like way too much of a hassle. Perhaps I am just lazy, but seriously, that thing isn’t exactly light or small. It just lives on our island in the kitchen pretty much 24/7. Honestly, it really defeats the purpose of having it, but that is another story for another day.

All this changed when I got my hands on the Legion Go. I started thinking, could I actually replace my desktop and get the portability I had been hoping for (that still allows me a certain level of laziness) and enough juice to run the kind of games I want when I feel like sitting in my desk chair? Let’s get one thing out of the way first, I primarily just enjoy racing games, city builder games, and the occasional FPS. Casual would be a great description.

Right off the bat, I started thinking that I would actually like to have my primary workstation separate from my portable gaming device but in the same package, think separation of Church and State. The idea of running a separate Windows OS off of a MicroSD card gave me ajita, so that was out. I needed to find a way to “Dock”, toy with running a separate OS, and yet still provide me with the ability to be portable. So… like anyone looking for information, I hit the web.

Since the Legion Go is still relatively new, I started looking for Steam Deck docking stations with the features I was looking for. There are plenty of options out there to dock your Steam Deck, but there was only one that looked like it would check the boxes, the JSAUX 6-in-1 Docking Station (HB0604). Not only does it allow me to connect my device to my external keyboard, mouse, and monitor, but it also has an M.2 SSD slot. Honestly, most people would probably use the M.2 for additional storage, but for me, this is separate OS territory.

I knew from looking at the pictures, that this wouldn’t be the complete solution, for example the USB-C cable looks short and seems to align to the wrong side of the Legion Go and there are only 2 USB ports. Here is the list of things I have used to get to my ideal state, use my Legion Go as a Desktop replacement, and actually enjoy the experience. I didn’t need to go crazy, 3 items in my cart, some technical know how, and a little elbow grease and I am off to the races.

Stay tuned for my complete review of the JSAUX HB0604, my tutorial on how to install a Separate OS and survive, what my overall experience was like, and if I am truly going to ditch the Desktop!

Note: Prices below were reflected at the time of writing this article.