
HTC Vive Price Cut - Assossa
https://blog.vive.com/us/2017/08/21/htc-vive-announces-price-drop/
======
bstahlhood
For anyone doing most of their development on a MacBook Pro, you can get the
External Graphics Development Kit[1] announced at WWDC. The kit costs 599.00,
but that is better than building or purchasing a new PC rig.

It includes a promo code for 100.00 toward the purchase of a Vive. With this
price cut, that brings the Vive purchase down to 499.00.

Apple is partnering with Valve and Steam VR is supported. They have also
partnered with Unreal and Unity for VR development on Mac OS X High Sierra.

[1] [https://developer.apple.com/development-kit/external-
graphic...](https://developer.apple.com/development-kit/external-graphics/)

~~~
RickS
Can anyone comment on the performance of a newish MBP with this kit relative
to a modest custom gaming PC?

~~~
gt_
It's fine. I've done this just with Windows on a 2014 macbook with the nvidia
(I think m950) graphics card.

Developing VR involves low framerate experiences no matter what you use. I
have a PC as well, but I would not hesitate to use my MBP again at all.

------
jsonderulio
Oculus Summer of VR totally shattered their expectations. Sets were back-
ordered for a while. Vive saw their market & new platform developers running
away from them.

Having tried both in multiple capacities, the tracking and field of view are
better of the Vive. But the Oculus has a better developer network & content,
is easier to use, and seems to deliver a better final resolution.

Also $400 vs $600 is compelling, although if you can afford VR you are
probably not exclusively price sensitive.

~~~
balls187
It's super easy to get Occulus content running on a Vive.

 _IF_ you're going to invest in VR, _AND_ you've waited this long, you might
as well wait for gen-2 hardware--with the hope they are wireless headsets.

If you want to try it out, just get Google Cardboard or Google Dream.

~~~
abiox
> with the hope they are wireless headsets

wouldn't going wireless imply heavy batteries strapped to your head?

~~~
computerphage
Or possibly strapped to another part of your body. You'd still get the benefit
of not having a cord pulling on your head or tripping you.

~~~
PakG1
Wearing a power pack on your back with a cord to the head would be quite fine.
The only thing to be careful about is batteries that get too hot. But in a
weird way, that's better on your back because I think if people were forced to
choose, a fire on one's back is better than a fire on one's head. No fire is
of course the best. :)

------
deorder
I have both the Vive and the Rift (new SKU) at the moment. In my case:

\- Both my Vive and my Rift have visible mura not being corrected by the mura
correction. The Vive has a more uniform mura, but darker scenes (even grey
ones) are impossible to play. This got worse after an update last November. My
Rift shows the following pattern:
[https://imgur.com/a/fG2F6](https://imgur.com/a/fG2F6). Disabling SPUD works
but creates many other issues like ghosting / black smear.

\- Everything on my Rift is blurry and I cannot read any text at all. Even
text that is close. I adjusted the IPD, how I wear it, increasing
supersampling etc. all without success. I have a constant feeling as if my
eyes are crossed. I can watch Miyubi on the Vive, but not on my Rift.

\- The new Rift foam causes pupil swim for me because my eyes are closer to
the lens. I can also see the borders of the screen even in the middle.

\- I got the new Rift bundle, but many demos assume you have the remote which
is not inside the box anymore. For me the Touch controllers are too much of a
hassle to put on only to control a movie. I do not seem to be able to wear the
Touch controllers like is shown in the videos. May be my hands are too small.

\- I prefer the new Vive deluxe headstrap over the Rift's headstrap, but I
think the attached audio headset of the Rift is better. I have a lot of
trouble putting the Rift on. The pulling while holding the HMD or putting the
back part of the headstrap on first and then pulling the HMD over my face. I
really like the Vive's deluxe headstrap tighten wheel more.

\- The Vive has a brighter image. My Rift's image is too dark for my taste.

------
rothbardrand
Can someone give me an overview of the different systems in price and quality?

My impression was that Oculus was a bit better but pricier, but with everyone
cutting prices and Oculus filling out their system-- is one a far better offer
than the other now at this new price for Vive?

Or would I be better off going the playstation route?

Just curious-- have never owned a VR headset (or actually even used one!) and
I'm interested, but been waiting for things to settle.

~~~
gervase
There are a few factors to consider.

1\. Many early adopters were upset by Oculus' decision to pursue platform
exclusives, where a piece of software will only work on a single company's
hardware. This is a common feature of console devices, but not commonly found
in computer-based gaming. This may or may not matter to you.

1B. Some people are bothered by the fact that Facebook owns Oculus; this may
or may not matter to you.

2\. Oculus is considerably cheaper than the Vive, even after this price cut.
Their system, including motion tracking, is roughly $400 before taxes.

3\. Video quality on Oculus and Vive are roughly comparable. Framerates and
resolution on the PSVR are strictly lower, which can cause some users to
experience nausea or headaches.

4\. Most reviews rank the accuracy of the motion capture of the three
platforms as Vive > Oculus >> PSVR. This is an important metric when measuring
subjective "immersion", which is, after all, the entire point of buying a VR
system.

5\. Both Oculus and Vive require a relatively beefy computer to run the
headset at sufficiently-high framerates. If you already have one, great. If
not, it should be a sizable consideration in your purchasing decision; a PSVR
would be quite a bit cheaper than either computer-based headset in this
scenario.

So far, Vive is leading in terms of adoption rate, since Oculus' movement
tracking solution launched many months after the headset. This meant that for
quite a while, anyone who wanted motion capture needed to get a Vive.

Now that Oculus' solution is available, it is speculated that they are using
their Facebook money to buy back marketshare by undercutting Vive's solution
and selling below cost.

I would suggest that if you are in the market for a VR system, you should go
and experience it at least once before making the plunge. Some people are
extraordinarily sensitive to visual latency, which can cause severe nausea. If
you are close to a Microsoft store, many have Vive demo kiosks you can use for
15 minutes to get a feel for the technology.

Hope this helps.

~~~
lsh
linux support?

~~~
Fej
No. Vive/Oculus are Windows-only affairs.

------
baby
This is great to hear! Having tried both The Vive and Oculus I always found
the HTC Vive lightyears ahead of Oculus. Now because of the huge Oculus price
cut I was seriously considering buying the Oculus instead. It's a weird
decision but not having a PC, I have to factor that in the overall cost :/

By the way. Is there a page that list configs or already built setups for the
Vive?

------
potatolicious
Huh. Usually a price cut precedes a new generation of hardware - but the press
release seems to go out of its way to dispel that notion.

Personally I would love to see a new iteration of the hardware... The comfort
level of the Vive leaves something to be desired IMO, and could do well with
cribbing the ergonomics of PSVR.

~~~
FLGMwt
Vive _does_ have new controllers in the works:
[https://www.vrfocus.com/2017/07/a-guide-to-the-htc-vive-
knuc...](https://www.vrfocus.com/2017/07/a-guide-to-the-htc-vive-knuckles-
controllers/)

Both HTC and Oculus have tried to say something along the lines of "a major
shift isn't coming _too_ soon. If you want VR in the next 2 years or so, don't
hold out".

~~~
stephengillie
It's sad to see the technology plateau at the current level, with bulky
helmets and clumsy controllers as the state of the art for the forseeable
future. If only they could route the optics more effectively, using fiber or
another medium.

~~~
mquander
New hardware is coming -- the next iteration is going to be wireless, inside-
out tracked headsets and hand tracking, and it's going to be here in 2018.
It's not on the shelves yet, but the prototypes work.

~~~
stephengillie
Do you have information that GP and GGP don't? Please share your sources.

> _Huh. Usually a price cut precedes a new generation of hardware - but the
> press release seems to go out of its way to dispel that notion._

> _Both HTC and Oculus have tried to say something along the lines of "a major
> shift isn't coming too soon. If you want VR in the next 2 years or so, don't
> hold out"._

> _They don 't actually say that there won't be a new generation of hardware.
> If you read it carefully they just say that they're going to keep selling
> the current one._

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jahabrewer
I really wish I had bought mine on a credit card with price protection now.

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hatsunearu
Little too late. But definitely the right direction.

