LOL…what was the deal with that? Was there some product safety or material that was against EU regulations or something? Am I wearing an irradiated, asbestos face foam brain death device?
Most probably!
I have no idea why Samsung forgets about a whole continent, like that…?
The European Union trying to protect XTAL…?
Just curious if this includes playing in multiplayer or if it only pertains to SP experiences within DCS. I’m on a 6700k OC’d to 4.3 with a 1080ti and while I’m generally ok in SP within DCS, I do get pretty significant performance hits on-line in multiplayer just given the sheer number of aircraft and ground assets in play many times. That’s with an OG Rift.
Sticking with my rift for now.
For me, an issue with these new headsets is the controllers. I have both an Oculus and a Samsung Odyssey, and the fact is that the majority of games comply with Oculus standard controls, and that the already clunky WMR controllers have a completely different control scheme that is all to often incompatible.
The odyssey visuals are godly: brighter, more colorful, but the controllers are like trying to knit with boxing gloves on.
I keep disconnecting it and going back to the Oculus for the better controllers and smoother software and interface (plus less fiddling with settings) but then the blander colors and relatively dim display (hard to create a realistic daytime brightness for flying) of the Oculus drive me back to the Samsung, only for the cycle to begin again.
In this round of new headsets I find that the controllers are a paramount issue of importance, And if the new Oculus can be brighter and more colorful while maintaining the greater functionality of the Oculus ecosystem, then I would tend to jump on that right away.
Except that I have a 70 IPD, and Oculus seems to telling me to go fish. 
Bleah!
The new Rift S controllers sure look like a nicer version of the halo-ring type hand controller than most of the WMR ones.
They have pretty much just moved the rings to the top of the controllers to accommodate the inside out tracking.
Lots of great albeit contrasting points being made here. I’m going to definitely wait for reviews this time around. Looking forward to hearing from some of you chaps whom have pre-ordered. Let the games begin 
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You guys are not helpful at all. Too many plus and minus columns for my pea brain to sort. I am going to go with what I know. It has served me comfortably and well over two years of hard use with no flaws, no foibles (well there was an update that left us in the lurch for a day or two) and no mods required. But I can’t hand over my credit card until I know details about the controllers. And those details may be hard to find. Like battery life. The current Oculus controllers let the sensors do much of the electron pushing. The batteries last for days of hard use. I don’t expect the new controllers to be quite that efficient but I’d prefer an illegible screen door to replacing batteries every four hours.
Is there reason to believe that the new controllers will have less battery life? I kind of figured that the cameras on the headset replace the external sensors, so the controllers wouldn’t need to do any more than they do now. I haven’t read up on the technical side of the new controllers though.
Yeah, I also thought the controllers are as passive as the Oculus Touch Controllers for the OG Rift. Isn’t it the cameras on the S that track the controllers? Or do the controllers track themselves, just like the S headset does?
They shipped to pro buyers first. Consumer online orders May 6th. Here’s the head of VR at HP:
https://twitter.com/JoannaPopper/status/1123568133585788929
Samsung drew out of the Euro zone for their laptops, after basically just making bad laptops 
so through a quirk of corp org nonsense, the VR units are part of the ‘consumer laptop’ division, so couldn’t be sold in Europe either (no sales support offices anymore etc).
MP as well, but I’m dialing back the CPU heavy things like shadows etc. I target 45 fps and no more and rely on reprojection, so I’m right on the edge of even ok’ish performance on that poor 1070. With a 1080ti or a 2080 the HP Reverb and DCS (with hopefully some VR optimizations soon) should be do’able, or rather not as dismissable/impossible as I sometimes read.
I think that’s smart.
From what I have gleamed, before we get decent comparison reviews for things like sims, the tracking order is now:
- Valve Index
- OG Rift
- Rift S
- WMR
This IPD situation is really odd, in that only the Valve Index out of the newer ones has a hardware adjustable set-up. I really think the Rift S should have got Lenovo to add that, it would really help a lot more people.
Yep. I still don’t get the preordering. It’s not even like I am saying ‘don’t buy this one!’, it’s more we lack the actual info to not just guess, and we’re tantalizingly close to actually knowing for sure!
I look forward to people’s impression when stuff arrives, but the downside is they won’t be comparing the new set of VR with each other, as in, I expect the Rift S to be better than the Rift in terms of the lens and resolution, but I really want to know how the Valve Index and HP Reverb would compare in the same sim/game before hitting the credit card. An early purchase is just going to make people entrenched they didn’t do the wrong thing…
I think the tech in the new Rift S controllers is essentially the same as the OG, it’s just the cameras are now in the headset rather than on stalks. The new controllers have IR lights and an accelerometer, with a blue tooth connection, like the old ones. I would be surprised if the battery life was any different.
(eek, sorry for the mega reply @MBot, I think I just tagged everyone on Mudspike with that reply. 
)
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For some of us, the price plays a rather important part of the equation too!
Being absolutely unwilling to pay 1000 € for the Index, and the Reverb price also being very much a stretch for me, I’m pretty much left with the Rift S.
And, I’m not waiting a year or more for this new round of headsets to go down in price, I want better cockpit readability now dammit 
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That’s a good point. The current prices are:
$299 - Odyssey Plus (if you can get it where you are)
$399 - Rift S
$499 + $149 (single tracking station) - Valve Index
$599 - HP Reverb
This is with no hand controllers on the Index, which is a pure ‘HOTAS + VR’ scenario, and means you miss out on a lot of the other aspects of VR.
The Reverb is really only going to be a nice thing if you have a 1080 + like card, so the price difference isn’t great but you’re already in the ‘high end, pays too much’ segment in some ways.
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NOW you tell me I could’ve bought the Reverb from Ms. Popper…! 
What’s the procedure for cancelling orders at Oculus? 
Yep, it’s expensive toys no doubt, but even then, one have to draw the line somewhere, tempting as it may be to go all out. Oh, and the prices you mention is about 30% higher over here, because of import taxes.
As for only buying the Index headset, I really want a complete VR gaming system, in order to replace the OG Rift.
Really just trying to say that I feel my reasoning for preordering Rift S is pretty sound, although I admit a lot hinges on Wags statement about being able to read everything. No real way to be sure about that, except waiting for reviews.
Re: Hand controllers and battery life. Yeah I may have been talking out of my butt. During my two week foray with the O+ if found hand tracking and battery life to be a nuisance. I just assumed that the Rift S was going to be a similar system.
They’re selling out at the moment, you might be able to make a profit!
Essentially I see this as a gamble, and just for me personally (obviously) here’s my odds:
- Rift S being a nicer headset than Rift. 90%
- HP Reverb being such a nice screen it makes it worth the WMR pain for flight sims. 50%
- Valve Index 120hz and those new dual lens makes it special enough to gamble big on. 30%
So what you are doing isn’t against the odds really.
Ideally Wags would had used the Valve Index and the HP Reverb to compare. Hopefully it won’t be long until he can do that and comment. I suspect he might not though, as best to keep out of the discussion. Hats off to Facebook for proactively sending the unit to him - it has sold a lot of DCS simmers on the Rift S.
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While I don’t think the Rift S will be as quite as good as the original Rift or the Vive/Valve Index tracking, it will almost certainly be better than WMR for tracking. It’s got 5 cameras, with two facing the floor! 