£1000 on VR headset!

MaDMaX**

MaDMaX**

MaDMaX**

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so I have been given the go ahead by her that should not be named! To spend £1000 on a VR headset,
I currently have a 9070XT nitro and 7800X3D, i will be looking to play Flight sims in VR like MS2020 and il2 etc, probably some Call of duty style VR as well,

I previously had the HP reverb G2, and an oculus rift before that,
Im obviously waiting to see if the Deckard appears this year,
but if not what else would be in my price range ?

i know some of the latest headsets need base stations, would prefer to stay away from these, but if needs must, but obviously thats more cost,
If nothing else appears, i might consider the quest 3, which is cheaper, if im not going to get a lot more for £1000,
 
I have a Varjo Aero (for sale) Bigscreen Beyond 2 (Soon for sale) a Quest 3 and a Pimax Crystal Super my thoughts.....

Quest 3 for it's price is by far the best for flight sims i think! it would serve you well, it just has a bit of artifacting (due to compression) which you probably wouldn't notice in a flight sim unless your really going fast near the ground, you'll need a third party strap with a battery to extend it's playtime though i have the BOBOVR

Varjo (EOL) is higher res than the quest 3 but you need at least 1 base station for it and the FOV is lacking a bit but it looks very sharp with no compression as it's a display port native headset

BigScreen Beyond 2 this is around your budget with just the headset the base station and straps of course cost extra but in isolation it's amazing i did buy the BSB2 and the Crystal to compare and it's surprisingly close and in dark scenes as it's oled well it's jaw droppingly good only ruined by the glare but the most comfortable headset i have ever used!

Crystal Super the big bulky boy but OMG the FOV and clarity is just unsurpassed of what i've seen and it's really bright but you need the horse power to run it I have a 5090 and that struggles :S and it's like wearing a car on your head

No headset is perfect they all have their own quirks and flaws you just have to decide which flaws you can live with and how much money you want to spend!

I am intrigued with the new "Deckard" or steam frame whatever they are calling it but i think it'll be on par with the Quest 3 or slightly better as it's a stand alone as rumour has us believing but until it's actually here with us it's just vaporware.

I've owned pretty much every headset since the Oculus DK2 back in the day so i'd say i have a good allround experience! but it's a very personal choice and hard to give a definitive anwser too.
 
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Might be interested in the BSB2, depending on the price. as I have a complete Valve Index kit I'm not using.

Though I'm waiting for 'The' headset, but nothing so far has matched my needs. Really I'd like a high-res Quest Pro, and the new Samsung Google device comes closest, but it's very expensive, and not perfect.
 
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ImMrChris said:
I have a Varjo Aero (for sale) Bigscreen Beyond 2 (Soon for sale) a Quest 3 and a Pimax Crystal Super my thoughts.....

Quest 3 for it's price is by far the best for flight sims i think! it would serve you well, it just has a bit of artifacting (due to compression) which you probably wouldn't notice in a flight sim unless your really going fast near the ground, you'll need a third party strap with a battery to extend it's playtime though i have the BOBOVR

Varjo (EOL) is higher res than the quest 3 but you need at least 1 base station for it and the FOV is lacking a bit but it looks very sharp with no compression as it's a display port native headset

BigScreen Beyond 2 this is around your budget with just the headset the base station and straps of course cost extra but in isolation it's amazing i did buy the BSB2 and the Crystal to compare and it's surprisingly close and in dark scenes as it's oled well it's jaw droppingly good only ruined by the glare but the most comfortable headset i have ever used!

Crystal Super the big bulky boy but OMG the FOV and clarity is just unsurpassed of what i've seen and it's really bright but you need the horse power to run it I have a 5090 and that struggles :S and it's like wearing a car on your head

No headset is perfect they all have their own quirks and flaws you just have to decide which flaws you can live with and how much money you want to spend!

I am intrigued with the new "Deckard" or steam frame whatever they are calling it but i think it'll be on par with the Quest 3 or slightly better as it's a stand alone as rumour has us believing but until it's actually here with us it's just vaporware.

I've owned pretty much every headset since the Oculus DK2 back in the day so i'd say i have a good allround experience! but it's a very personal choice and hard to give a definitive anwser too.
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Thank you for the depth reply, like you say its a personal choice, i have followed a few YouTubers, especially a UK guy that does a lot of flight sim stuff, and from what i can tell the sentiments are very much felt as above in your reply, I really like the BSB it seems to pack quite a punch for its size, shame there’s not anywhere you can go to try them all !, i do like the crystal supers , think there’s a light version as well, but like you stated the pimax headsets seem to need a lot of horse power, im not quite there yet with a GPU upgrade as only just built my system with the XT, but if the supers offer anything better for your money i might sell the Xt to get one, however if your saying your 5090 struggles, dont know if a 5080 super is going to cut the mustard even with 24GB VRAM :(

So the BSB only needs one base station ? , i could probably find space for that, like the fact you get to personalise the faceplate,
 
Yes I run it with one for sim racing and it’s fine and it does run a lot better with lower hardware due to the lower res and in isolation you’d love it it’s only as I’ve had it side by side with the Super that I prefer the Super BUT it’s very close I was in two minds for a few days of which one to keep
 
If your budget is set at £1000 and you don't want to go too much over that, then, I can only really think of 3 options. (Well maybe 4)

Pimax Crystal Light.
Pimax Dream Air SE.
Quest 3.
Pico 4 Ultra.

ImMrChris has mentioned the BSB 2 and Crystal Super, but they are both well over your £1000 budget. Like the BSB2 doesn't come with controllers or base station and you would need headphones too, no integrated audio unless you buy the Audio Strap etc. And even that Base model is £1099. By the time you get controllers and Base stations etc. You would be well over £1300.

It depends on how strict you are on budget. You also have to factor in stuff that you might not account for in the price of the headset and controllers. You might need prescription lenses, Docking stations, comfort straps, better face gasket, etc. etc.

EDIT: just seen your reply to Chris. If you want to play Roomscale games, and you are going with the BSB2 or any other headset that uses lighthouse tracking, you need two basestations.
 
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melmac said:
If your budget is set at £1000 and you don't want to go too much over that, then, I can only really think of 3 options. (Well maybe 4)

Pimax Crystal Light.
Pimax Dream Air SE.
Quest 3.
Pico 4 Ultra.

ImMrChris has mentioned the BSB 2 and Crystal Super, but they are both well over your £1000 budget. Like the BSB2 doesn't come with controllers or base station and you would need headphones too, no integrated audio unless you buy the Audio Strap etc. And even that Base model is £1099. By the time you get controllers and Base stations etc. You would be well over £1300.

It depends on how strict you are on budget. You also have to factor in stuff that you might not account for in the price of the headset and controllers. You might need prescription lenses, Docking stations, comfort straps, better face gasket, etc. etc.

EDIT: just seen your reply to Chris. If you want to play Roomscale games, and you are going with the BSB2 or any other headset that uses lighthouse tracking, you need two basestations.
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I’ve seen a few reviews on the crystal light, will check out the SE, but you make a good point re roomscale, maybe the quest or PICO 4 ultra are my best bets if the Deckard doesnt pan out, i didn’t do a-lot of roomscale stuff, but never managed to complete half life Alyx, and would really want to, as even on the reverb g2 the graphics were pretty amazing

Thanks for all your input guys much appreciated, the other problem i will have is whatever i get will have to do, as that has been made abundantly clear 0)
 
Ravenger said:
Might be interested in the BSB2, depending on the price. as I have a complete Valve Index kit I'm not using.

Though I'm waiting for 'The' headset, but nothing so far has matched my needs. Really I'd like a high-res Quest Pro, and the new Samsung Google device comes closest, but it's very expensive, and not perfect.
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There won’t be ‘the’ headset for a while you’ll always be making a compromise somewhere I would sell the BSB2 now but I’m still waiting for the Halo strap….

There’s not a lot of sub £1000 headsets worth buying for room scale tbh the Quest 3 is about it or the Pico maybe
 
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Honestly even though the Quest 3 is under £500 it's still the best all round headset up to £1000, I'd argue it was the best all round headset full stop tbh.
If you have a specific use case, like simming only, then yes there are better options.

Just because the Quest 3 is cheaper than most others doesn't mean it's inferior, many people think Meta priced it really aggressively, had someone else made it it might have been significantly more expensive, it's the 3rd (or 4th if you count the Pro) in it's lineage and each generation improved upon the last one, Meta literally poured billions of $ into developing it, no other manufacturer has done that.

It does a few things really well, some more things pretty good, and the rest is perfectly adequate. It has no major weaknesses imo.
 
Tykey said:
Honestly even though the Quest 3 is under £500 it's still the best all round headset up to £1000, I'd argue it was the best all round headset full stop tbh.
If you have a specific use case, like simming only, then yes there are better options.

Just because the Quest 3 is cheaper than most others doesn't mean it's inferior, many people think Meta priced it really aggressively, had someone else made it it might have been significantly more expensive, it's the 3rd (or 4th if you count the Pro) in it's lineage and each generation improved upon the last one, Meta literally poured billions of $ into developing it, no other manufacturer has done that.

It does a few things really well, some more things pretty good, and the rest is perfectly adequate. It has no major weaknesses imo.
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Thanks for your input, id be silly not to wait for more news of the deckard but failing that it probably will be the quest 3, as it will probably suit my needs and leave change for some other bits !
 
The Pimax units seem to have great visuals, but I’ve forgotten the number of posts I’ve read from people who’ve experienced issues with their headsets.
It seems like it’s an utter lottery as to whether you get a good un’.

I have a Pico4 for a week. Worked great on day 1, then regardless of what I did, I couldn’t get it to work correctly again.

Right now, if my Quest Pro died, I’d buy a Quest 3.
I’m just hoping that the Pimax Dream Air SE will actually be built well enough to be worth a punt.
 
Every new high-res headset I've looked at is having problems. Haven't found anything to replace my Quest Pro with yet. My ideal headset would be a high res Quest Pro, as the form factor, lenses and controllers (when Meta don't break them) are excellent. The only let down for me is the relatively low resolution. The Samsung XR headset looks closest but even that has some issues. Hoping the Pimax Dream Air will be good.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
The Pimax units seem to have great visuals, but I’ve forgotten the number of posts I’ve read from people who’ve experienced issues with their headsets.
It seems like it’s an utter lottery as to whether you get a good un’.

I have a Pico4 for a week. Worked great on day 1, then regardless of what I did, I couldn’t get it to work correctly again.

Right now, if my Quest Pro died, I’d buy a Quest 3.
I’m just hoping that the Pimax Dream Air SE will actually be built well enough to be worth a punt.
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this is true even my Super had a dodgy screw that made the headband fall apart and due to the loose fit it has now snapped and is held together with tape! and trying to get a new headband is like pulling teeth i wont be buying Pimax again thats for sure!
 
ImMrChris said:
this is true even my Super had a dodgy screw that made the headband fall apart and due to the loose fit it has now snapped and is held together with tape! and trying to get a new headband is like pulling teeth i wont be buying Pimax again thats for sure!
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Thats the dream SE out the window then lol, its def a mixed back of problems, with these headsets, with the quest 3 seeming the best, with the least amount of niggles, if im honest id probably have just bought a reverb again if they could still be bought new,, now they work again thru steam , but even with them the tracking can leave a bit to be desired,
At least there are a few options to look forward to thinking about
 
MaDMaX** said:
Thats the dream SE out the window then lol, its def a mixed back of problems, with these headsets, with the quest 3 seeming the best, with the least amount of niggles, if im honest id probably have just bought a reverb again if they could still be bought new,, now they work again thru steam , but even with them the tracking can leave a bit to be desired,
At least there are a few options to look forward to thinking about
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I had a reverb G2 the Quest 3 is soooo much better the lenses are the best around imo i mainly use it for watching movies or Youtube in bed :cry:
 
I think my big motivator is to get a non-meta headset as though I love the hardware the constant breakage with firmware and OS updates makes updating the headset and controllers a lottery. This is especially true on Quest Pro, which is effectively abandoned by Meta.

For instance I was on V76, and the controllers operated perfectly. I'd disabled updates as the ones subsequent to that broke PC streaming, then the controllers. Foolishly I re-enabled updates as I'd heard the problems are fixed. Currently on v79 and guess what? They updated the controllers and now it's hit or miss if they start tracking correctly after booting the headset. I have to reboot the controllers to get them to track. V81 has now dropped. Praying it works. The only reason I updated is I use the headset to play Walkabout Minigolf and want to make sure it still works, as sometimes the apps need work on the latest firmware.
 
ShiWarrior said:
i personally would say Quest 3

wireless
able to do PC-VR
Lots of games / non-games
lots of accessories
Lots of options
Most popular
Exclusive titles
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yes i concur for the money you can't get better and without seeing the high end headsets visuals you wouldn't be disappointed
 
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