It sure is! The only two things I mention for people thinking of doing it:

1. Eject the micro SD card first!
2. Get a decent small screwdriver and be careful with the screws as they have a bit of thread lock on them and I found it was pretty easy to strip. Nearly had one do that for me which was a bit stressful.

But other than that it’s a piece of cake and plenty of guides getting the os on the new drive.

It’s true but from what I have heard it can be a bit of a ball ache getting the warranty with them, but that’s par for the course for grey import so nothing really special about Kogan. They may have a better reputation than most, but with an import you accept it could be a hassle.

That said, I think going with the cheapest and upgrading the SSD is the best choice.

Also wouldn’t hold my breath that if/when a local steam deck is released, it will be at all competitively priced.

If you can deal with the issues of grey import, it’s trivially easy to get one here now. I got a 64gb from Kogan, and since I’m rolling the dice with warranty - did a 1tb SSD upgrade myself.

Definitely happy with my purchase it’s an awesome machine