Potential new VR user question

karamu

karamu
Hi, as the title says, I'm thinking about getting a VR headset for Elite (while I may try out other VR games, ED is the main reason I'm thinking about it).

My budget is pretty limited so have been looking at a Meta Quest 2 or possibly an HP Reverb - both of which I've found used on eBay for £100 - 200 which is about all I can justify.

My PC is a Ryzen 7 5800X + Radeon RX 7800 XT with 32gb RAM - so reasonably powerful.

Would I get a good VR experience using either of these two headsets with my rig? Is one better than the other for any reason?

Thanks in advance for any tips!
 

Bill Clement

Bill Clement
The Reverb is a superb VR headset, but MS support for it is about to be axed, which is probably why the price is so low. Basically, the headset needs Windows Mixed Reality to function, but MS are axing it from Windows 11 in the next update. Support for Windows 10 will cease in October '25; it'll still work, but with no more security updates or similar. Whatever's broken with the OS will be broken forever...

This thread explains a wee bit more:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...h-the-upcoming-windows-11-update-24h2.628407/

If you're happy running an unsupported OS the Reverb at around £150 is actually a real bargain. For virtual flying it's still competitive with most of the latest kit:

image_2024-10-17_211817372.png

The Bigscreen Beyond and the Apple Vision Pro are crazy expensive, while the Pimax Crystal light is much more realistic, but still way past a ton and a half...
 

DeckerSolo

DeckerSolo
karamu said:
Hi, as the title says, I'm thinking about getting a VR headset for Elite (while I may try out other VR games, ED is the main reason I'm thinking about it).

My budget is pretty limited so have been looking at a Meta Quest 2 or possibly an HP Reverb - both of which I've found used on eBay for £100 - 200 which is about all I can justify.

My PC is a Ryzen 7 5800X + Radeon RX 7800 XT with 32gb RAM - so reasonably powerful.

Would I get a good VR experience using either of these two headsets with my rig? Is one better than the other for any reason?

Thanks in advance for any tips!
Click to expand...

As already said in this thread, Windows support for HP Reverb G2 is comming to an end so you would be well advised not to buy one even at the low prices. But its image quality is better than the Meta Quest 2.

The Meta Quest 2 is a good budget option for ED with no support issues.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEBFiL4BXN4
 
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karamu

karamu
Hmm, that's really poor news about support in Win11. I'd seen all the news about Win10 support coming to an end so decided to go with W11 when I built this PC - it's primarily for gaming and as much as I'd rather use Linux I had to be realistic. There's so much about 11 I don't like though and this one just takes the p. I'd read that the Reverb had better screen quality so was happy to put up with the cable for that. With this news of its support being binned with W11 looks like the Quest 2 is the only sensible option.

Thanks for the info both.
 

Doctor Dread

Doctor Dread
I've started my Elite VR experience 10 months ago on Quest 2.

It is a very solid VR, well supported and with plethora of aftermarket add-ons 'n stuff. You will not have the crispest picture, it would be a bit low-res compared to Q3 I'm using now or from what I hear Reverb has, you'll always search for that sweet spot in the middle, BUT:

Q2 was enough to knock me off my feet, VR experience of Elite is beyond words. Even the simplest A-B-A-B trade route is a glorious event. Brings immersion on 11. You are there.

It is not the best VR headset, but it does the magic for Elite.
 

karamu

karamu
Doctor Dread said:
I've started my Elite VR experience 10 months ago on Quest 2.

It is a very solid VR, well supported and with plethora of aftermarket add-ons 'n stuff. You will not have the crispest picture, it would be a bit low-res compared to Q3 I'm using now or from what I hear Reverb has, you'll always search for that sweet spot in the middle, BUT:

Q2 was enough to knock me off my feet, VR experience of Elite is beyond words. Even the simplest A-B-A-B trade route is a glorious event. Brings immersion on 11. You are there.

It is not the best VR headset, but it does the magic for Elite.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can only imagine the immersion VR brings. I've just recently spent a fair chunk of cash building my PC and a VR headset will be basically only for ED so I can't justify spending more than the absolute minimum to get something that works. Sounds like the Quest 2 is a solid option, thanks for the feedback.
 

karamu

karamu
Iron Body said:
I also would prefer to run ED on LInux, but stuck with w10 for now. The question is - are any of the VR headsets available with Linux ?
Click to expand...
I haven't tried ED cos I have that on Epic (free game a few years back) but I have happily run a few of my Steam games on my Linux laptop. Can't really compare performance cos it's an old, non gaming, machine but I was impressed that they actually ran!! Couldn't comment on VR as obviously I don't know very much about it yet.
 

Doctor Dread

Doctor Dread
karamu said:
Yeah, I can only imagine the immersion VR brings. I've just recently spent a fair chunk of cash building my PC and a VR headset will be basically only for ED so I can't justify spending more than the absolute minimum to get something that works. Sounds like the Quest 2 is a solid option, thanks for the feedback.
Click to expand...

Trust me, you will never forget the moment you see the inside of the station. And your cockpit. Mate, I haven't jumped anywhere for a while, merely changing ships and going out of the station, looking around, then docking back in. :)
 

pFVD

P
Doctor Dread said:
Trust me, you will never forget the moment you see the inside of the station. And your cockpit. Mate, I haven't jumped anywhere for a while, merely changing ships and going out of the station, looking around, then docking back in. :)
Click to expand...
So true. I often find myself unconsciously smiling as I go through the mail slot; no matter how big you imagine a station or perceive it on a flat screen, seeing it to scale in a 3D space for yourself is staggering. Just walking around an Anaconda in VR and not just intellectually knowing it's bigger than a football pitch but actually seeing it is bigger is awesome.
 

Dragsham

Dragsham
Shame you can't stretch to a PCL.
Makes the G2 reverb look pixilated & grainy/screendoorish.
The crystal lights clarity is astonishing in elite. Truly a game changer. Black is truly black not gray. And the software it comes with allows you to tweak to your hearts content.
Support for openXR too.
No glare!
Once you got a custom gasket on its dreamy. Still knocks my socks off a few mths into owning one.
 

Doctor Dread

Doctor Dread
karamu said:
Sounds awesome!!
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention the important thingy: make sure that for the first time you start VR, docked somewhere, you sit in any of the Lakon ships.
Their bubble canopy will give you the most impressive experience. (people call it Lakon View™)
Mate demonstrated me his Q2 in his AspX, "come to see what we were actually playing all these years". The moment I saw how the inside of the station looks like, I knew I must go VR.

And it never gets old.
:)
 
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