noob wants to get into vr, what system is best for features / reliability in 2020?

Roadrunner_668

Roadrunner_668

Roadrunner_668

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hi guys, interested in vr too, i heard one of them, the rift, is getting absorbed by facebook? so i might want to avoid that one.

is the htc vive the one to go for?

also are vr games more intenseive than normal ones? building a new pc soon so not sure if i might need to up my budget for vr

thanks!
 
Vive is old tech, as is Rift S.

The three best headsets are:

Oculus Quest 2 - Releases next week. Great mobile wire-free headset, playing games downloaded to the headset, high resolution, great controllers, can link to a PC and play Oculus or Steam VR games. Built in audio is so-so. Cheapest headset out of the lot and the best bang for the buck. Requires an add-on head-strap for best comfort. But it needs a Facebook login. Best in class inside out tracking with no sensors required.

HP Reverb G2 - Launches in November. Highest resolution of the consumer headsets. Good comfort, excellent audio. Uses the Windows Mixed Reality platform which isn't as good as Oculus or Steam VR, but the headset is Steam VR compatible. Controllers not as good as the Quest 2 or Index. Good inside out tracking, but probably not as good as Quest.

Valve Index, most expensive but arguably the best all-round PC VR headset, with excellent comfort, sharp displays, large field of view, and high refresh rates. Has the most advanced VR controllers out there with five finger tracking (though they have been unreliable). Audio is excellent. Needs 2 external lighthouse boxes to be mounted for tracking, but gives the best overall tracking. Only downside is horrendous lens glare (apart from the price tag!)
 
arent occulus getting absorbed by facebook ? not sure i like the sound of that, people were saying you might have to log into facebook to play games and other nonsense. not a zuck fan ! :)

i havent even heard of the other two so i will look into them ! any thoughts on whether vr has any extra spec needs over normal games ?

thanks for the info !
 
Roadrunner_668 said:
arent occulus getting absorbed by facebook ? not sure i like the sound of that, people were saying you might have to log into facebook to play games and other nonsense. not a zuck fan ! :)

i havent even heard of the other two so i will look into them ! any thoughts on whether vr has any extra spec needs over normal games ?

thanks for the info !
Click to expand...

Glad to help.

Running a modern VR headset is like gaming at 4k at 90hz, so you need a powerful system to get the best out of PC VR, especially if you're running racing, flight or space sims.

However VR games (especially older ones) often have lower detail levels than standard games to allow hardware to render at 90fps, as frame drops and inconsistent framerates can cause nausea in VR.

This is why the Quest 2 (and it's predecessor the original Quest) are such amazing devices, despite the Facebook requirement, as they managed to make VR work without a PC, and without wires in a self-contained device at a cheap price.

The Index is over £900, for that price you can buy 3 Quest 2's!
 
Roadrunner_668 said:
arent occulus getting absorbed by facebook?
Click to expand...

Facebook bought them a few years back and a Facebook account will be mandatory for Quest 2. I'm mostly okay with that as I do have an old account that I can use, I don't use it as a platform and have no friends or content connected to the account.

Edit: The Index runs at 120 fps, but at a lower resolution; the Quest and Reverb run at 90 fps* but higher resolution (Reverb > Quest). Framerate is extremely important in VR

Personally I would (and did) grab the Quest 2, it's a lot of headset for a low price and gives you an untethered experience

* there's a bug with the Quest 2 that means it will launch at 72 fps, but that should get fixed fairly quick.
 
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Roadrunner_668 said:
im sure i could get over the facebook thing but it just seems undesirable to me that it forces you to sign into a social media account !
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It forces you to link your Oculus account to your Facebook account. It's not really much different to any android phone forcing you to have a gmail account.
 
Roadrunner_668 said:
im sure i could get over the facebook thing but it just seems undesirable to me that it forces you to sign into a social media account !
Click to expand...

You need a Facebook account - you don't actually have to use any of the social media features. Just set it up with your real name, dob and you are good to go. You can even set max privacy on it so you profile is not visible or searchable.
 
hp reverb g2 is better than the index, the only thing going for it now is the controller, room based tracking and refresh rates, but the g2 has 120hz anyway.

G2 has the best display by far. there are comparrison videos on youtube that show you, however through the lens videos aren't entirely accurate.

Quest is definitely best bang for buck, but be aware, this is facebook trying to get an even bigger monopoly on wireless vr and tie you into the platform, the mandatory facebook account means if you get banned you lose your games associated to it also. just imagine the trolling and fake reporting.
 
MrClippy said:
hp reverb g2 is better than the index, the only thing going for it now is the controller, room based tracking and refresh rates, but the g2 has 120hz anyway.
Click to expand...

I believe the G2 is 90hz only. Also it has a smaller FOV. (Though that will also increase the apparent resolution). Another thing the G2 has over the Index is no lens glare. The Index lens glare is the only thing that really bugs me about it.
 
I would also say don't discount Playstation VR as it's pretty cost effective given how cheap you can buy a PS4 and the PSVR headset these days assuming you don't have one already.

It has some of the best VR games IMO as well. Wipeout VR, firewall zero hour, astro bot. Been playing star wars squadrons on it and it's a blast.

Personally I think I might give PC VR a miss for now as the costs of upgrading and the technical issues are becoming too expensive and time consuming.

Devices like the Oculus Quest 2 and Playstation VR are so much more plug/play and better priced.
 
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