First VR purchase, Quest 2 or Rift S.

[Kaput]

Hello,

I apologise if my query is a no brainer but I'm 70 and just about to buy my first VR headset. As my username suggests I'm a bit knackered so I won't be jumping around in the middle of the room, everything I do will have to be seated. Primarily I want to use Google Earth VR, Wander and flight simulators.

I've tried to read up on VR but I need some informed advice. I've read that Rift S is better for Google Earth VR but also that Rift S is being discontinued, I don't want to be stuck with something which will soon be obsolete, is Rift S still a viable purchase?. On the other hand Quest 2 is well reviewed but needs a link cable to a laptop for Google Earth VR, as I will be seated that isn't a problem but will I need an Oculus Link cable or a USB 3 cable, I have one USB 3 port.

What about the Oculus app?. I have a very cheap Alcatel mobile 'phone, will I need to put my 'phone into my headset to download that or can I do that to my laptop?. In short how do I set up in order to use Google Earth VR, does that come built into Rift S or Quest 2, if not how do I get it?.

Sorry about having so many questions but the more I've read the more confused I've become. I have an Easynote TE laptop about 7 years old, will that be good enough?. I would be grateful for any advice.

 

[Unseul]

Hey! My dad is now 81, and bought his quest 2 a few months ago, and loves it.

First off, what are the specs of your laptop? I really struggle to believe that any 7 year old laptop is going to be able to run any VR headset to be honest.

With that taken into account, unless you plan on buying a new computer that can run it, Quest 2 (or second hand quest 1) is your best (only) option.

There's a new app coming to quest apparently that will be similar to Google Earth, but seemingly also multiplayer https://www.roadtovr.com/realworld-multiplayer-google-earth-vr-quest-alternative/

In addition, quest 2 will allow you to sit/lie wherever you like whilst you watch and enjoy content. My dad and I go fishing almost every week on real vr fishing, and every couple of weeks or so he goes fishing with my boy. It becomes odd to think that I've not physically seen him for over a year, when I've been looking at "him" on his yacht, from my submarine, almost weekly.

You do need a smart phone or tablet for the quest 2, but I don't believe it needs to be very powerful. It doesn't need to go into the headset in any way. They will need to be on the same wifi connection, which shouldn't be an issue.

You will also need a Facebook account.

I think my dad has probably used his headset more than I've used mine, and as you can imagine, he's not been jumping around much either!

 

[melmac]

Hello,

I apologise if my query is a no brainer but I'm 70 and just about to buy my first VR headset. As my username suggests I'm a bit knackered so I won't be jumping around in the middle of the room, everything I do will have to be seated. Primarily I want to use Google Earth VR, Wander and flight simulators.

I've tried to read up on VR but I need some informed advice. I've read that Rift S is better for Google Earth VR but also that Rift S is being discontinued, I don't want to be stuck with something which will soon be obsolete, is Rift S still a viable purchase?. On the other hand Quest 2 is well reviewed but needs a link cable to a laptop for Google Earth VR, as I will be seated that isn't a problem but will I need an Oculus Link cable or a USB 3 cable, I have one USB 3 port.

What about the Oculus app?. I have a very cheap Alcatel mobile 'phone, will I need to put my 'phone into my headset to download that or can I do that to my laptop?. In short how do I set up in order to use Google Earth VR, does that come built into Rift S or Quest 2, if not how do I get it?.

Sorry about having so many questions but the more I've read the more confused I've become. I have an Easynote TE laptop about 7 years old, will that be good enough?. I would be grateful for any advice.

Your laptop is not going to have enough grunt to power any VR headset. So that rules out the Rift S.

So you really have only two choices and that's the Quest 1 or Quest 2. Because you can use either of the Quest headsets without been connected to a PC at all.

But, you really only have one choice, the Quest 2 is far better.

You won't be able to use Google Earth without been connected to a PC. To play it you would need to invest in a new laptop/PC.

Your Alcatel mobile should be fine as long as you can download and install apps from the Google Play Store.

 

[Craig R]

There is an app on Quest 2 called "Wander" which sounds similar to Google Maps.

 

[Tykey]

Kaput, a quest 2 as has already been said is the better option. Your Alcatel mobile phone must be a smart phone with Bluetooth, just pointing this out as my 73 year old mother has a cheap Alcatel non smart phone which wouldn't work.

 

[Kaput]

Thank you very much to everyone who has repled, it's a great help to me. Tyke, my Alcatel is a smart phone but I've no idea if it has Bluetooth, how do I find out?. What part does a smart phone play in using Quest 2?. I do have a Facebook account, I don't use it, it's blank but I can login. Unseul and melmac, you've both pointed out that I'll probably/will need a more powerful laptop, I'm happy to buy a new one, after all I haven't spent anything for the past year!. Any recommendations for what would be a good purchase?. My current laptop specs are as follows but I'm not expecting that they will be good enough.

AMD dual-core processor E1-1200
AMD Radeon HD 7310
6GB DDR3 memory
500 GB HDD
DVD super multi DL drive
802.11b/g/n
6 cell Li-ion battery

Thanks in advance for any further advice,

Kaput

 

[melmac]

Thank you very much to everyone who has repled, it's a great help to me. Tyke, my Alcatel is a smart phone but I've no idea if it has Bluetooth, how do I find out?. What part does a smart phone play in using Quest 2?. I do have a Facebook account, I don't use it, it's blank but I can login. Unseul and melmac, you've both pointed out that I'll probably/will need a more powerful laptop, I'm happy to buy a new one, after all I haven't spent anything for the past year!. Any recommendations for what would be a good purchase?. My current laptop specs are as follows but I'm not expecting that they will be good enough.

AMD dual-core processor E1-1200
AMD Radeon HD 7310
6GB DDR3 memory
500 GB HDD
DVD super multi DL drive
802.11b/g/n
6 cell Li-ion battery

Thanks in advance for any further advice,

Kaput

What sort of budget do you have?

And maybe before you go buying expensive hardware, it might be worth considering would the Quest 2 be good enough on it's own??

 

[Unseul]

Does it have to be a laptop? Desktops are generally cheaper. And what would your budget be? Also, as stated, if you're only buying it to do more on VR, maybe get the quest 2 first, and see how you enjoy it and get on, then look to see what you'd be using the computer for, that you can't simply do on the headset itself.

 

[Tykey]

Kaput, do a Google search with your phones model name/number plus "bluetooth", read the results, they should tell you whether your phone has bluetooth. Have a browse through your phones settings, you may come across a bluetooth enable/disable option. Most smart phones have bluetooth as do most tablets which you could also use if you have one. What is the phone/tablet used for? you ask.. Hardly anything from what I remember. I used my tablet to hook up to my quest 2 via Bluetooth the 1st day I had my quest 2 and I've not used it since.

From memory, I think its where you download the Oculus companion app to your phone/tablet to hook up your Facebook account with your quest 2, you can then enter things like your credit card details so you can make quest related purchases like games etc.... someone else might have a better memory than me on this.

Edit : On whether a quest 2 alone would be enough, I see you mention flight sims in post 1, if you're on about sims like microsoft flight sim 2020 then you need a powerful new laptop or pc too.

 

[Kaput]

Thanks once again to Unseul, melmac, tyke, Craig R and Sgarrista for your replies, all your posts are very helpful. As I want to use Google Earth VR and Microsoft fllight sim I will need a more powerful laptop (thanks for advice). As for my budget, the Quest 2 seems to be £299 at many outlets I'm thinking £1000 for that plus a laptop, so £700 for the laptop. I'd also like to be able to stream films from my laptop to the headset, would my current laptop do that, if so which connecting cable would I need, an Oculus link or a USB 3?. For practical reasons I really need to use a laptop as opposed to a desktop.
I've been looking around and found the HP Pavilion at £799, a bit above my budget but I'm willing to go there and higher if necessary, specs of HP Pavilion are as follows, would this work?.

• Intel® Core™ i5-10300H Processor
• RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 512 GB SSD
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4 GB
• 147 FPS when playing Fortnite at 1080p
• Full HD screen

Thank you for your help and patience, Kaput

 

[Craig R]

Thanks once again to Unseul, melmac, tyke, Craig R and Sgarrista for your replies, all your posts are very helpful. As I want to use Google Earth VR and Microsoft fllight sim I will need a more powerful laptop (thanks for advice). As for my budget, the Quest 2 seems to be £299 at many outlets I'm thinking £1000 for that plus a laptop, so £700 for the laptop. I'd also like to be able to stream films from my laptop to the headset, would my current laptop do that, if so which connecting cable would I need, an Oculus link or a USB 3?. For practical reasons I really need to use a laptop as opposed to a desktop.
I've been looking around and found the HP Pavilion at £799, a bit above my budget but I'm willing to go there and higher if necessary, specs of HP Pavilion are as follows, would this work?.

• Intel® Core™ i5-10300H Processor
• RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 512 GB SSD
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4 GB
• 147 FPS when playing Fortnite at 1080p
• Full HD screen

Thank you for your help and patience, Kaput

A GTX 1650 GPU isn't going to cut it. I just replaced my 1070 which was the minimum requirement for many games, and it is considerably more powerful than a 1650.

 

[McPhee]

I think much of this has been answered already, but you want the Quest 2. It does everything the Rift S does, but can be used with or without a PC.

But the selection of seated experiences on Quest isn't huge. For sims etc. you need a PC really. Per the above, you need a pretty strong PC for VR. Even more so for Flight Sim, which is particularly demanding. My PC struggles, and it's equipped with a RTX 3060 Ti (note: desktop graphics cards are more powerful than their laptop counterparts).

For laptops, you're looking at something like this as a bare minimum:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...z-ryzen-r7-4800h-gaming-laptop-lt-2dl-as.html

That's quite a bit slower than a desktop 3060 Ti, so you'd have to do a fair bit of tweaking to have FS2020 running well.

Something like this would be substantially better:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...z-ryzen-r7-5800h-gaming-laptop-lt-2dg-as.html

 

[Tykey]

Kaput, I concur that that laptop you found won't be good enough. Remember msfs 2020 is a demanding game and then there's the extra demand of vr.

About streaming movies to a quest 2 from your laptop, an oculus link cable would do it or for a cheaper alternative Google search oculus compatible link cable, oculus themselves recommend one made by Anker as a cheaper alternative cable (from memory its about 20-30 pounds). You can also stream wirelessly (no cable required - its done through your routers wifi) using software called virtual desktop.

 

[melmac]

Thanks once again to Unseul, melmac, tyke, Craig R and Sgarrista for your replies, all your posts are very helpful. As I want to use Google Earth VR and Microsoft fllight sim I will need a more powerful laptop (thanks for advice). As for my budget, the Quest 2 seems to be £299 at many outlets I'm thinking £1000 for that plus a laptop, so £700 for the laptop. I'd also like to be able to stream films from my laptop to the headset, would my current laptop do that, if so which connecting cable would I need, an Oculus link or a USB 3?. For practical reasons I really need to use a laptop as opposed to a desktop.
I've been looking around and found the HP Pavilion at £799, a bit above my budget but I'm willing to go there and higher if necessary, specs of HP Pavilion are as follows, would this work?.

• Intel® Core™ i5-10300H Processor
• RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 512 GB SSD
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4 GB
• 147 FPS when playing Fortnite at 1080p
• Full HD screen

Thank you for your help and patience, Kaput

I think you have decided to buy PC hardware at a very bad time. Prices are crazy at the moment.

Personally I think you should get the Quest 2 and hold off on buying anything. There will be things you might want to buy on top of just getting the Quest 2. Like a more comfortable headstrap, a USB 3 cable (or Oculus Link cable) New VR covers. Maybe even prescription lens inserts.

When you talk about streaming movies, what exactly are you talking about? Bluray rips? DVD rips? Or are you talking about stuff on Prime or Netflix etc?

Just a question, has your laptop a USB 3 port??

 

[Kaput]

Thank you all. Melmac, regarding movies I'm thinking of Netflix and my laptop does have one USB 3 port. I know I said that I would only be able to use a laptop but after a reappraisal, my space, mains plug socket and ethernet connection (should I need one) I now realise that I could indeed use a desktop. I imagine that means that it will be easier/cheaper to get something with the power I need. My thanks for the 'info on power/graphics requirements. I didn't have a clue, I would most likely have gone and bought something completely useless. When I find something (desktop) which looks suitable I'll post the specs here to check, I don't understand them.
Last question for the moment, honestly. Melmac you say that PC hardware is very expensive right now, is there a particular reason for that?. It's not the virus surely?.
It's been suggested that I should get the Quest 2 first, to see what it will do on its own, I'm going to do that.
Thank you gentlemen you have all been a great help to me.

 

[Unseul]

Definitely go for the quest 2 on it's on at first. You can watch things online through the oculus browser, there's an amazon prime app for the quest 2 that's brilliant. The netflix app though is apparently still very low resolution, so less use.

There's a global shortage of graphics cards at the moment, crypto currencies are doing well, so anything with any power behind it (ie anything capable of running VR) is in extremely high demand. Get the quest 2 first, then wait and see if it's even worth investing more.

 

[McPhee]

Thank you all. Melmac, regarding movies I'm thinking of Netflix and my laptop does have one USB 3 port. I know I said that I would only be able to use a laptop but after a reappraisal, my space, mains plug socket and ethernet connection (should I need one) I now realise that I could indeed use a desktop. I imagine that means that it will be easier/cheaper to get something with the power I need. My thanks for the 'info on power/graphics requirements. I didn't have a clue, I would most likely have gone and bought something completely useless. When I find something (desktop) which looks suitable I'll post the specs here to check, I don't understand them.
Last question for the moment, honestly. Melmac you say that PC hardware is very expensive right now, is there a particular reason for that?. It's not the virus surely?.
It's been suggested that I should get the Quest 2 first, to see what it will do on its own, I'm going to do that.
Thank you gentlemen you have all been a great help to me.

We can't link to other retailers here and I'll make no claims on value for money, but this would be about the spec you'd want:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...q3*_5bHPr3*_ybHPD3*.*bHPE3yXVbHPJ3*.~bJjM3$-V

If it wasn't for the pandemic and cryptocurrency mining driving prices up, this would maybe be a £1000 PC depending on the company building it. Graphics cards, in particular, are the big problem. A RTX 3060 Ti should be £400-£450 tops. But you'd be lucky to find one in stock anywhere, and when you do it's unlikely to be under £500.

If you get the Quest first, check this game out if you want flight:

Warplanes: WW1 Fighters | SideQuest (sidequestvr.com)

You can't get it direct on the headset as yet, but it's worth getting to grips with SideQuest for this game alone. It's great.

Also, word of warning. VR can give people really bad motion sickness. Flight sims and driving games are two of the worst categories for this. It would be sensible to start with other types of games and experiences first, so your brain can get used to VR. For seated experiences, I'd recommend checking out Moss, Down The Rabbit Hole, A Fisherman's Tale, Wolves in the Walls, Baba Yaga.

 

[melmac]

Thank you all. Melmac, regarding movies I'm thinking of Netflix and my laptop does have one USB 3 port. I know I said that I would only be able to use a laptop but after a reappraisal, my space, mains plug socket and ethernet connection (should I need one) I now realise that I could indeed use a desktop. I imagine that means that it will be easier/cheaper to get something with the power I need. My thanks for the 'info on power/graphics requirements. I didn't have a clue, I would most likely have gone and bought something completely useless. When I find something (desktop) which looks suitable I'll post the specs here to check, I don't understand them.
Last question for the moment, honestly. Melmac you say that PC hardware is very expensive right now, is there a particular reason for that?. It's not the virus surely?.
It's been suggested that I should get the Quest 2 first, to see what it will do on its own, I'm going to do that.
Thank you gentlemen you have all been a great help to me.

No worries Kaput, We are delighted to be able to help so don't be afraid to ask any question.

First movies. You can install Netflix, Amazon Prime and Youtube directly onto the Quest 2. You don't really need a PC.

For VR a desktop would be better and cheaper normally. But as I said, hardware is very expensive at the moment.

There are 3 main reasons for the price increase, The Corona Virus has meant more demand for computer technology in the home than ever before. With people working and schooling from home. But, not only has is increased demand, it's hampering supply and production.

The second problem is Brexit and getting the trade agreements etc in place. I don't think this will be a long term problem and it's easing slowly already.

Lastly, you have heard of Bitcoins and cryptocurrency? Well, cryptocurrency is currently in a bubble and increasing in price all the time. Cryptocurrency miners are using GPUs to mine coins. They are buying up GPUS at any price. They are even buying in bulk directly from the GPU companies like Asus, MSI, EVGA etc. And lately, they have even started buying laptops as long as they have the correct GPU. This has not only made new GPUs more expensive, it's also driven up the price in the second hand market.

I would stick to that plan of getting the Quest 2, then deciding if you need to get a PC/laptop afterwards.

EDIT: Sorry, if you really want to go ahead and get a PC. I would at bare minimum get a PC with a 1660 Super. You should be able to find one online for around the £700 mark.

Or else take a look you might even find a PC with a 2060 Super/2070 super for not too much more.

WE can't post links or discuss prices of competitors products here.

 

[McPhee]

get a PC with a 1660 Super. You should be able to find one online for around the £700 mark.

Or else take a look you might even find a PC with a 2060 Super/2070 super for not too much more.

Problem is, Flight Sim doesn't really run well on any of those cards. A 2070 Super is just about viable with a bunch of tweaks in the settings menu. Anything slower than that and you've got to drop a bunch of settings to Low, which looks really bad in VR.

If that game is one of the main motivations for buying a VR headset and a desktop PC, then it would make sense to buy a GPU fast enough to run the game well.

 

[melmac]

Problem is, Flight Sim doesn't really run well on any of those cards. A 2070 Super is just about viable with a bunch of tweaks in the settings menu. Anything slower than that and you've got to drop a bunch of settings to Low, which looks really bad in VR.

If that game is one of the main motivations for buying a VR headset and a desktop PC, then it would make sense to buy a GPU fast enough to run the game well.

Yeah, I know, but, if £799 is pushing his budget, then he hasn't got many options. I certainly can't see him forking out £1350 and £1999.

Remember this is his first foray into VR. So it's going to be different for him than you.

And I am only recommending these cards if he has the money now and has to buy now. The 1660 Super, 2060/2070 supers will at least allow him to play Flight Sims and use Google Earth. It will allow him to get a good taste of PCVR without going massively over budget. He can always upgrade his GPU later on if he needs/wants to.

If he is in a position to wait, then that's what I am advising him to do. Wait until some normality returns to pricing.