New Vive Pro

[terrydew]

FYI Rumor has it that a new Vive “Pro” will be announced today with a higher resolution.

[DubiousKB]

I'm just looking into VR now, was told to go for the VIVE over Occulus. Now hearing the above, should I wait?

Any VR guy's thoughts on this?  Experiences?

[terrydew]

I think I would wait. With improved resolution and tracking, the Vive might retake the top spot. Of course there might be a price difference. Release dates and price were not released today. Check out the Road to VR website. I bet they will have some hands on impressions soon.

[FLS]

I'm just looking into VR now, was told to go for the VIVE over Occulus. Now hearing the above, should I wait?

Any VR guy's thoughts on this?  Experiences?

What were the reasons for preferring the Vive over the Rift?

[Mister Fork]

What were the reasons for preferring the Vive over the Rift?

Yeah me too.  From what I know, the Oculus is the best supported VR headset out there right now. If someone were to ask me today, I'd say get a Rift - for ~$350-400 you can't go wrong.

Some people spend that money on Starbucks in a month.

[Gman]

I had 2 sets of both, the Rift and the Vive.  The only thing the Vive did better was room scale gaming, and that's only because the Rift wasn't capable of doing it as well initially.  Once the extra sensors and that capability came around, the Vive IMO lost the only advantage it had.  Ask any sim developer, they'll all say that the Rift is far easier to work with, better drivers, etc.  Every sim/cockpit/driving game out there I've tried, the Rift was and is a far superior experience.  So much so I got rid of both Vives, as I only played one game with them due to it not being available on the Rift, and once the new sensors and support came out for that from Oculus, it was adios Vives.

HTC is a horrible company to deal with.  I could post a long story about how incompetent their service department is, starting with the whole "no can English" part - they ended up screwing up an RMA so badly that I got one of my 2 Vives for free, even after telling the repeatedly about their mistakes.  It got so ridiculous, and if you check Reddit, I was far from the only one.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/8/16863136/new-htc-vive-pro-vr-headset-announced-ces-2018

New Vive - 78% greater resolution 2160x1200 to 2880x1600, Rift like headphones, 2 front cameras, 2 microphones.  Time will tell.  I hope Rift 2.0 or whatever comes out soon, as I don't think I'll by trying...more like risking an HTC purchase ever again, but I like the greater res idea, a lot.

[Skuzzy]

The Rift's edge is the software.  It is still far superior to the Vive.

[terrydew]

The Rift's edge is the software.  It is still far superior to the Vive.

Skuzzy are there things you can’t do with the Vive that you can with the rift or you can do the same things with both but the Rift is easier to implement?

[terrydew]

A hands on review.

https://www.roadtovr.com/ces-2018-vive-pro-hands-on-much-more-than-an-improved-screen/2/

[DubiousKB]

What were the reasons for preferring the Vive over the Rift?

Just some suggestions from local games shops; biggest point was that the VIVE is more value with the controllers and a better/more comfortable headset. 

Still in early stages, but starting to drool at some of the videos getting put out now...

[DubiousKB]

I had 2 sets of both, the Rift and the Vive.  The only thing the Vive did better was room scale gaming, and that's only because the Rift wasn't capable of doing it as well initially.  Once the extra sensors and that capability came around, the Vive IMO lost the only advantage it had.  Ask any sim developer, they'll all say that the Rift is far easier to work with, better drivers, etc.  Every sim/cockpit/driving game out there I've tried, the Rift was and is a far superior experience.  So much so I got rid of both Vives, as I only played one game with them due to it not being available on the Rift, and once the new sensors and support came out for that from Oculus, it was adios Vives.

HTC is a horrible company to deal with.  I could post a long story about how incompetent their service department is, starting with the whole "no can English" part - they ended up screwing up an RMA so badly that I got one of my 2 Vives for free, even after telling the repeatedly about their mistakes.  It got so ridiculous, and if you check Reddit, I was far from the only one.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/8/16863136/new-htc-vive-pro-vr-headset-announced-ces-2018

New Vive - 78% greater resolution 2160x1200 to 2880x1600, Rift like headphones, 2 front cameras, 2 microphones.  Time will tell.  I hope Rift 2.0 or whatever comes out soon, as I don't think I'll by trying...more like risking an HTC purchase ever again, but I like the greater res idea, a lot.

ratz,that's counter to what i've heard so far. 

SO Gman, you're a solid Rift supporter, at the very least for Aces High?

The other game i'd really like to experience in VR is Elite Dangerous, anyone have experience with that game and VR?

[Skuzzy]

Skuzzy are there things you can’t do with the Vive that you can with the rift or you can do the same things with both but the Rift is easier to implement?

The Rift just operates better.  Smoother motion overall with a steadier frame rate.  Both of which are needed for the best immersion.


The problem with increasing the resolution of the VR headsets is the video card requirements.

[FLS]

Just some suggestions from local games shops; biggest point was that the VIVE is more value with the controllers and a better/more comfortable headset. 

Still in early stages, but starting to drool at some of the videos getting put out now...

Sounds like they got it backwards. Rift is cheaper and currently better for AH. 

Vive pro may change that but they'll need to improve the software to handle the higher resolution.

[Skuzzy]

From a pure hardware perspective, we think the Vive headset is better than the Rift, but the Vive sensors are designed for room size space to operate in, while the Rift sensors lends itself to the desktop better.

[Gman]

Cockpit games, be they flying, cars, whatever, which all = desktop, not roomscale, are without question better on the Rift than the Vive.  I tried every sim/driving game that supported VR, it was across the board better on the Rift, and that's supported by the forums of each of those games, few if any thought that the Vive was superior.

Yes, the actual hardware/set of the Vive is a bit nicer, although their ear buds suck compared to the Rift's audio (it sucks a bit too, just not as badly), but god himself can't help you if ANY of the Vive hardware breaks.  Just contact Vive's support for a laugh if you don't believe me, and see what happens.  Gong show, every time, I mean like so bad you think you're being punked, bad.  There is ample info online about dealing with HTC over problems, most of it not complementary.  Google HTC Vive +customer service, you get the phone book of YT videos and Reddit pages of complaints and stories similar to mine.

Also, the Vive is a couple hundred more still than the Rift.  The Vive is slightly better if you must wear glasses (regular ones, everyone should spend the 50$ and get the inserts IMO).  The Vive also is more "nose heavy", and I and the  other users of the ones I had found them more difficult to get comfortable with than the Rift, but this is subjective.  Also, the sensors for the Vive contain moving parts - the Rift's don't, and back to that whole customer service issue thing...all it takes is one long drop onto a hard service and the Vive sensors can fail.


Someone else put it best IMO - if you can only afford one VR set, the Vive is the one you buy if you like to show off gee-whiz stand up art/shootem up games at cocktail parties to people who like console-like games.  The Rift is the one you buy if you're a serious PC gamer.

Edit - The Rift works extremely well for the space game Elite Dangerous.  It was the 2nd or 3rd thing I played using the Rift.