Is the Index worth the wait?

DEL 707

DEL 707

DEL 707

Soldato
Joined
20 Mar 2004
Posts
4,575
I've borrowed an older Oculus Rift so that I can play Half Life: Alyx, and I've been having a blast to the point I want my own VR headset.
I was intially going to grab a Rift S, but availabilty has become a problem. So I'm now thinking of the Index, since I need to wait no matter what.

At the moment the store page is saying order ship after 8 weeks, so, is it worth the wait?
Should I keep searching around for a Rift S?
Are there any new VR headsets coming out this year that I should wait for?
 
My advise would be to get the first headset that comes available. Order the Index and if you find a Rift S in the meantime buy it and cancel the Index Order.
 
My advice would be to get the best wireless one you can. Every time those wires touch the back of your neck, the spell is broken. Plus you can't turn left or right or turn around 360 or anything due to the wires. Going wireless was a game changer for me. I could not go back to wired for all the extra res or fov in the world.
 
Index is a great headset, but it's not perfect. The glare in particular is very bad. I also prefer some of the ergonomics of the touch controllers over the Index controllers. Best things are the audio, FOV, resolution, and comfort - it's very comfortable.

I'm also missing the Oculus eco-system, which is vastly more polished than Steam VR. You can play Oculus exclusives on the Index, via Revive, but only at a hefty performance hit which requires a bit of fiddling with settings to mitigate. (of course part of this is due to the Index's higher resolution). You don't get the excellent Oculus dashboard functionality either, or the various time warp and spacewarp techniques Oculus uses to enhance performance.

I'd be tempted to pick up a Rift S at some point, purely for the Oculus Exclusives like Asgard's Wrath, Lone Echo, etc. just to get the best native experience. I do have a Quest, but again that's compromised as it's only 72hz, and the official link cable isn't available right now. I find the wireless via virtual desktop works OK, but the overall quality of the experience takes a hit compared to dedicated PC headsets.
 
Ravenger said:
Index is a great headset, but it's not perfect. The glare in particular is very bad. I also prefer some of the ergonomics of the touch controllers over the Index controllers. Best things are the audio, FOV, resolution, and comfort - it's very comfortable.

I'm also missing the Oculus eco-system, which is vastly more polished than Steam VR. You can play Oculus exclusives on the Index, via Revive, but only at a hefty performance hit which requires a bit of fiddling with settings to mitigate. (of course part of this is due to the Index's higher resolution). You don't get the excellent Oculus dashboard functionality either, or the various time warp and spacewarp techniques Oculus uses to enhance performance.

I'd be tempted to pick up a Rift S at some point, purely for the Oculus Exclusives like Asgard's Wrath, Lone Echo, etc. just to get the best native experience. I do have a Quest, but again that's compromised as it's only 72hz, and the official link cable isn't available right now. I find the wireless via virtual desktop works OK, but the overall quality of the experience takes a hit compared to dedicated PC headsets.
Click to expand...

Be interested on your Experience with the quest when you do get the cable, it’s my preferred choice so far, but hanging on till the Hp reverb 2 valve thingy appears, but feel the draw ro the index coz of the knuckles ! And all this summation thru not even being able to try any of these headsets , closest I’ve come to VR is Psvr which was enlightening but let down by the graphics
 
MaDMaX** said:
Be interested on your Experience with the quest when you do get the cable, it’s my preferred choice so far, but hanging on till the Hp reverb 2 valve thingy appears, but feel the draw ro the index coz of the knuckles ! And all this summation thru not even being able to try any of these headsets , closest I’ve come to VR is Psvr which was enlightening but let down by the graphics
Click to expand...

I do have a shorter USB cable, which at least allows me to see how good the latency and image quality are, but it's not really usable for proper use as it's quite thick and heavy and not long enough to move around much.

Controller latency is very good - I'm hard pressed to notice the difference. The image quality is a little soft, but sharper than my Rift CV1. You can improve this with various tweaks though.

My biggest issue with the Quest is that the scaling seems off compared to other headsets. Everything seems about 20% smaller. Some other people have noticed this with their headsets, but I'm not sure if it's just a small subset of headsets or not. What this amounts to is that your hands seem too small, and the sense of scale is less impressive. If it wasn't for that I'd be really happy to use the Quest with link cable for Oculus exclusives, despite the 72hz display.
 
Last edited:
Ravenger said:
I do have a shorter USB cable, which at least allows me to see how good the latency and image quality are, but it's not really usable for proper use as it's quite thick and heavy and not long enough to move around much.

Controller latency is very good - I'm hard pressed to notice the difference. The image quality is a little soft, but sharper than my Rift CV1. You can improve this with various tweaks though.

My biggest issue with the Quest is that the scaling seems of compared to other headsets. Everything seems about 20% smaller. Some other people have noticed this with their headsets, but I'm not sure if it's just a small subset of headsets or not. What this amounts to is that your hands seem too small, and the sense of scale is less impressive. If it wasn't for that I'd be really happy to use the Quest with link cable for Oculus exclusives, despite the 72hz display.
Click to expand...

thanks for your thoughts, appreciate it, it’s hard to draw conclusions due to everybody’s unique experience, so will have to take the plunge at some point,
 
MaDMaX** said:
thanks for your thoughts, appreciate it, it’s hard to draw conclusions due to everybody’s unique experience, so will have to take the plunge at some point,
Click to expand...

Its like with the Quest its said to be front heavy but I dont feel that at all. Maybe its because I have a stronger neck ? I think the Quest is pretty good and Virtual Desktop is brilliant but I've never had another decent VR helmet to compare it against. Maybe if I tried one of the others I would think differently but wireless is a big plus for me I hate being tethered.
 
varkanoid said:
Its like with the Quest its said to be front heavy but I dont feel that at all. Maybe its because I have a stronger neck ? I think the Quest is pretty good and Virtual Desktop is brilliant but I've never had another decent VR helmet to compare it against. Maybe if I tried one of the others I would think differently but wireless is a big plus for me I hate being tethered.
Click to expand...

The Quest is great - a real game changer. I love it, but I had a lot of problems with comfort, and I must have spent about £100 on accessories (which included a battery pack as a counterweight) to make it more comfortable.

However your really do notice the difference coming from the Quest to a 'proper' PC VR headset. That's mainly down to the 72hz refresh rate.

Also games which run great natively on the Quest - Pistol Whip for instance, which I play regularly on the Quest - are much smoother and sharper on PC headsets.

It's still a miracle that you can have a fully portable VR system with excellent tracking and it costs 'only' £400. Show the Quest to someone who knows nothing about VR and they'll think it costs way more than that.
 
varkanoid said:
True I just wouldnt fork out more money on a proper PC headset which would not give me as good as an experience for the same cost. PC wireless headset for £400 then maybe yes please.
Click to expand...
Maybe that’s where the new hp headset will come in ! Prob not £400 though,

I may well go for an oculus, I’m sure I won’t lose my money if I feel I need to grade, it’s just at the moment by the time I think shall I shan’t I, they’re sold out again lol
 
MaDMaX** said:
Maybe that’s where the new hp headset will come in ! Prob not £400 though,

I may well go for an oculus, I’m sure I won’t lose my money if I feel I need to grade, it’s just at the moment by the time I think shall I shan’t I, they’re sold out again lol
Click to expand...

I think the safest VR option at the moment is the Rift S. It does everything pretty well, it's comfortable for most people and at a reasonable price.
 
melmac said:
I think the safest VR option at the moment is the Rift S. It does everything pretty well, it's comfortable for most people and at a reasonable price.
Click to expand...

my only worry with the rift S is the lack of physical ipd adjustment, when checked my ipd, it was on the outer boundaries. so might be a gamble by, also its not wireless like the guest, and from what i read lately the updates for the quest have made the PCVR experience a lot closer to a dedicated PCVR headset,
 
MaDMaX** said:
my only worry with the rift S is the lack of physical ipd adjustment, when checked my ipd, it was on the outer boundaries. so might be a gamble by, also its not wireless like the guest, and from what i read lately the updates for the quest have made the PCVR experience a lot closer to a dedicated PCVR headset,
Click to expand...

What's your IPD?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom