[Senko]

I'm aware of the mechanical differences but flavour wise what's the physical differences between the two? Would I be right in thinkings its just like a modern laptop and a supercomputer. Both the same puece of equipmet and able to do the same things but one has a lot more processig power, memory, cooling capacity and the like or is there something more between them.

For example a cyberdeck can run a program that would cause a PDA to overheat and burn out components but its just a beefed up version for the price of half a years high living up?

[SMDVogrin]

Think of a Commlink/PDA as an iPod.  Simple music playing device, does everything a normal user needs it to do.  It has a number of features built in, and more of them if you buy the expensive model.

A Cyberdeck then would be an DJ panel or a good Audio mixing console - it still plays music, but it allows expert users to do more.

[SlowDeck]

A commlink is a smartphone. A cyberdeck is an iPad.

[Senko]

So no nothing different between more expensive models/pda and deck just hardware as I thought. Thanks, bit of a shame there's no fluff in the description of them.

[Namikaze]

I don't understand what you were wanting.  Decks are highly illegal, about the size of a tablet, but they work completely differently from the way a commlink works.  A commlink can be really tiny, but generally you won't find them too much smaller than the smallest of our modern-day cell phones.  A commlink is only for interfacing with the Matrix in a legal fashion, whereas a cyberdeck is almost exclusively built for illegal operations.  There's a lot more differences than just size and hardware, so comparing them with iPads and iPods isn't really accurate except where size is concerned.

[TheDarkMessiah]

I don't understand what you were wanting.  Decks are highly illegal, about the size of a tablet, but they work completely differently from the way a commlink works.  A commlink can be really tiny, but generally you won't find them too much smaller than the smallest of our modern-day cell phones.  A commlink is only for interfacing with the Matrix in a legal fashion, whereas a cyberdeck is almost exclusively built for illegal operations.  There's a lot more differences than just size and hardware, so comparing them with iPads and iPods isn't really accurate except where size is concerned.

Don't corporate deckers and programmers also use comeliness? That's not illegal. I don't think they would be manufactured if there was no legal function.

[Namikaze]

Don't corporate deckers and programmers also use comeliness? That's not illegal. I don't think they would be manufactured if there was no legal function.

The cyberdecks that shadowrunners use are illegal - look at their Availability ratings.  They're all Forbidden, not even Restricted (which would allow for licensed use).  This suggests that the decks that corporate deckers, GOD, etc. use are different.  We'll have to wait for Data Trails I suspect, to get more information on legal use of decks.  There are tons of forbidden items that are available and manufactured all the time, even in today's age.  Legality has nothing to do with it in a dystopian one.

[Sendaz]

I think you are misunderstanding the definition of Forbidden as used in SR availability.

Forbidden items are never okay for anyone to own or buy or have—at least not for you, a private citizen on your own.

A corporate decker however is approved for using said device in the pursuit of corporate actions. 

But you can bet he doesn't get to take it home with him at the end of the day, because it is not HIS device, rather it is a corporate asset.

Just like Mil Spec gear is Forbidden, your normal Joe can not legally go out and buy Hardened Mil Spec Battle Armor no matter how much money he has, but soldiers or corp elite forces may be issued these and they would not be pulled over by KE just for wearing it while in the performance of their military/corporate duties.

[JackVII]

The cyberdecks that shadowrunners use are illegal - look at their Availability ratings.  They're all Forbidden, not even Restricted (which would allow for licensed use).

Uh, all listed cyberdecks in 5E are Restricted, not Forbidden.

[Namikaze]

The cyberdecks that shadowrunners use are illegal - look at their Availability ratings.  They're all Forbidden, not even Restricted (which would allow for licensed use).

Uh, all listed cyberdecks in 5E are Restricted, not Forbidden.

Motherf... yeah you're right.  I don't know why I thought they were all F.  Then that makes the point even more moot, I suppose.  Thanks for keeping me honest, Jack. 

[JackVII]

Motherf... yeah you're right.  I don't know why I thought they were all F.  Then that makes the point even more moot, I suppose.  Thanks for keeping me honest, Jack. 

NP. I had to double check to make sure my decker builds weren't illegal. I forget rules constantly.

Now... for whatever reason:
a) guns are Restricted
b) swords are Restricted
c) guns in your cyberarm are Restricted
b) swords in your cyberarm are Forbidden

To take it even further (strictly going by the tables) it is totally okay to have a silenced gun hidden in your cyberarm as long as you have a permit for it... boggles the mind.

Anyway, that's totally off-topic, but I've always found it funny.

[Senko]

I don't understand what you were wanting.  Decks are highly illegal, about the size of a tablet, but they work completely differently from the way a commlink works.  A commlink can be really tiny, but generally you won't find them too much smaller than the smallest of our modern-day cell phones.  A commlink is only for interfacing with the Matrix in a legal fashion, whereas a cyberdeck is almost exclusively built for illegal operations.  There's a lot more differences than just size and hardware, so comparing them with iPads and iPods isn't really accurate except where size is concerned.

What I was wanting was to know whether the difference between them was like that between say a mobile phone and a desktop computer (memory, processing power cooling but otherwise same concept, components etc) or if there was some other fundamenetal difference (say like comparing a computer to an X-Ray machine in that it posseses other components that allow it to do functions a comlink simply can't do even if you got the top end model in components) if you see what I mean?

[JackVII]

What I was wanting was to know whether the difference between them was like that between say a mobile phone and a desktop computer (memory, processing power cooling but otherwise same concept, components etc) or if there was some other fundamenetal difference (say like comparing a computer to an X-Ray machine in that it posseses other components that allow it to do functions a comlink simply can't do even if you got the top end model in components) if you see what I mean?

I think the abstracted answer is that a deck has more computing power and the requisite hardware to go with it that allows it to run software that provides it with an attack and sleaze rating as well as allowing it to run programs.

I think the best modern-day analogy would be that a commlink is a smartphone and a deck is probably closer (in performance/functionality) to a laptop or other device capable of running a full OS ( a lot of tablets are still closer to smartphones than laptops in performance capabilities). You can't run a high-performance PC game on a smartphone for a variety of reasons.

[CanRay]

Motherf... yeah you're right.  I don't know why I thought they were all F.  Then that makes the point even more moot, I suppose.  Thanks for keeping me honest, Jack. 

NP. I had to double check to make sure my decker builds weren't illegal. I forget rules constantly.

Now... for whatever reason:
a) guns are Restricted
b) swords are Restricted
c) guns in your cyberarm are Restricted
b) swords in your cyberarm are Forbidden

Cultural views of what Cyberspurs are, combined with concealed weapons laws, and just laws in general.  Don't forget that Shadowrun even admits some laws are insane, such as External Smartgun Links being legal in Quebec, but Integrated ones aren't.

[JackVII]

Cultural views of what Cyberspurs are, combined with concealed weapons laws, and just laws in general.  Don't forget that Shadowrun even admits some laws are insane, such as External Smartgun Links being legal in Quebec, but Integrated ones aren't.

I can go with insane laws. I had tried to rationalize it similar to how switch-blades are illegal in a lot of places because they're perceived as the weapons of lower-class folks and ne'er-do-wells, but then cyberspurs cost more than the vast majority of cyberguns, so that didn't really fly given the cost.