Which headset?

OK Just ordered a very nice Alienware desktop to play Elite Dangerous, Dirt rally and Asseto Corsa in VR - it will be here on 12th Oct. My old Thrustmaster Warthog is updated and working and I'm now trying to figure out which VR headset to go for.

I was going to go for the Oculus Rift as it seems to get recommended here more than the Vive although they share similar specs and are both widely regarded as the best you can buy. However I could hold off for the new Samsung Odyssey https://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-odyssey-specs-price-release-date-windows-mixed-reality-vr-headset/ which has higher res and launches early Nov. The outside choice is the Pimax 4k which seemingly offers very good specs but was distinctly unimpressive in this review video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dq4ncp5cDs&t=1384s

I don't mind waiting another month for Samsung - although frankly I'm chomping at the bit to get started asap with VR.

Leaving aside considerations of budget - which would you buy?

Birdseed
 
OK Just ordered a very nice Alienware desktop to play Elite Dangerous, Dirt rally and Asseto Corsa in VR - it will be here on 12th Oct. My old Thrustmaster Warthog is updated and working and I'm now trying to figure out which VR headset to go for.

I was going to go for the Oculus Rift as it seems to get recommended here more than the Vive although they share similar specs and are both widely regarded as the best you can buy. However I could hold off for the new Samsung Odyssey https://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-odyssey-specs-price-release-date-windows-mixed-reality-vr-headset/ which has higher res and launches early Nov. The outside choice is the Pimax 4k which seemingly offers very good specs but was distinctly unimpressive in this review video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dq4ncp5cDs&t=1384s

I don't mind waiting another month for Samsung - although frankly I'm chomping at the bit to get started asap with VR.

Leaving aside considerations of budget - which would you buy?

Birdseed

No one knows when any of the Mixed Reality HMDs will get SteamVR support. If you buy one you could be in for a wait before your able to jump into Elite or any other SteamVR supported title. Based on two games in your list (Elite & Dirt) I'd say go Rift as ASW will go a long way to keeping your frames at a precieved 90FPS meaning you can crank up setttings higher. SteamVR currently only offers standard reprojection. There were many reports of issues running Dirt on a Vive some time ago - no idea if they were resolved.

At the end of the day both the Vive and the Rift are excellent VR HMDs - good luck with whichever you choose.
 
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I have an oculus, but I am going to get a Pimax 5k or 8k as I would like a whole image to look at. The oculus is very good though. Highly recommend it.
 
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I saw the Samsung headset over on a Windows site... The RoadtoVR site was very interesting... Samsung looks very good and if the field of view works out it looks like a very solid setup. The addition of Steam and you could have a winner. I thought it was very interesting that Samsung should come out with a high spec unit with everybody else playing follow the leader.
 
I can't wait to hear reports from all the early adopters. I'm cautiously excited about the future of VR, namely higher resolution and less SDE.
 
I have the Vive, because I also play full room scale games like SuperhotVR.

I did a lot of research, and for me the Vive won out over the occulus for it's controllers preceision. The only downside is that I want to get the audio expansion which adds more costs. https://www.vive.com/nz/vive-deluxe-audio-strap/

(It adds the lower cranium strap so you can look down without the headset sliding out of position, and adds permanant headphones, although the Vive does have a 3.5mm jack on it)
 
vive is a better standing experience, but as far as in elite specifically, it seems like more people are pro oculus. Also, you save $100 which isn't irrelevant. To be honest even though I think elite might be better in the rift, there's an argument for the vive if you're upgrading to the pimax 8k potentially. I *believe* the base stations from the vive are compatible with the 8k, but check out the kickstarter for a more informed decision.

If I were you I'd wait for an actual gen 2 like the pimax 8k assuming it's good. :p
 
I’ll be checking out the pimax unit soon. I’ll post what I can in the way of impressions on a new thread here - depends on what I am able to say though. (NDA’s etc)
 
If you are in two minds then you might want to consider the fact that Facebook owns Oculus. If your internet connection goes down for any reason then you will not be able to play any games bought from Oculus Home, even if they don't actually require a connection.
 
If you are in two minds then you might want to consider the fact that Facebook owns Oculus. If your internet connection goes down for any reason then you will not be able to play any games bought from Oculus Home, even if they don't actually require a connection.

Errr, is that really true? I'm not convinced.
 
I bought my Oculus over a year ago. If I had the choice again today ... I'd buy the Oculus, it's brilliant. That said, I understand other VR systems are also brilliant. If you go here ..

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...here)-thread?p=4997022&viewfull=1#post4997022

.. and scroll to the bottom there's a whole bunch of linked "Rift vs. Vive" threads. Slightly old now but since both systems are essentially still in version 1 the comparisons are mostly still relevant.
 
Thanks for that link Alec - I will have a read through. Interestingly it looks like the Dell Visor and other Microsoft platform headsets are going to launch on 17th Oct even in the UK. Some previews of the Dell Visor on youtube indicate it is impressively comfortable so I guess that's another option. It's got almost the same resolution as the Samsung (i.e. a bit better than the Rift/Vive) and looks like being a solid choice too. The issue with those isn't the release timescale so much as when Steam integration will arrive - without it they're just an expensive paperweight.

Birdseed
 
Thanks for that link Alec - I will have a read through. Interestingly it looks like the Dell Visor and other Microsoft platform headsets are going to launch on 17th Oct even in the UK. Some previews of the Dell Visor on youtube indicate it is impressively comfortable so I guess that's another option. It's got almost the same resolution as the Samsung (i.e. a bit better than the Rift/Vive) and looks like being a solid choice too. The issue with those isn't the release timescale so much as when Steam integration will arrive - without it they're just an expensive paperweight.

Birdseed

I guess they're untested with Elite: Dangerous too so a bit of a gamble I'd have thought. He who dares tho!
 

dayrth

Volunteer Moderator
Leaving aside considerations of budget - which would you buy?

Can't comment on the others because I have only tried the Oculus, but I can tell you that the Rift is worth the price. I don't think I could play any remotely sim like game in 2D again. If price is not a consideration for you I can only recommend trying to find a way to try each of them out before making your decision.

...He who dares tho!

I like your attitude :)
 
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Good to hear you're so pleased with the Oculus even after a year of using it - I must confess I'm tempted to order one and try it with the option to return within 28 days. The fact David Braben uses one should be evidence enough of its effectiveness I guess!

Birdseed
 
Rift for ED.

Vive if you like the idea of roomscaling/other VR games that involve more movement than what your face does.
 
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