HTC Vive - Virtual Reality Headset

Pros: -Incredible experiences, many offered nowhere else. -The Vive can do anything any other consumer HMD can do. Not all systems, currently, can do everything the Vive can do. -Best tracking system available. No need for USB hook-ups, leaves room for expansion in the future. -Steam. -Easy to setup and use.

Cons: -Price, is what you would expect many to say. I do not believe this is true. I believe, for the technology, quality, experiences you will have, and as a leap into an entirely new way to play, this product is priced appropriately. I concur, $800 is not a small amount of money but do not agree that this HMD and accessories is "overpriced". -Games, rather, the lack of games. VR is still very new. There are MANY games to play, demo's to download, and you WILL have a fantastic time with your HTC Vive. However, it looks like it will be another year before we have some discretion between full length titles. Games are primarily early access and/or very short.

Overall Review: If you have the means, your expectations of being in a virtual world will be exceeded. You ARE there, look around, it's amazing. Try the following games for a great first impression: -Vanishing Realms -Raw Data -Acan's Call (free demo) -The Lab (free)

Pros: Room scale VR needs to be experienced. Period.

Cons: $$$$$ Game selection is still rather limited Setup instructions are great but you're stuck using reddit threads for anything but the most basic troubleshooting Setup can be a bit funky unless you're buying and setting it up with a new purpose built computer Official vive site includes 3 games with purchase (currently Tilt brush, The gallery Ep 1, and Zombie Training Simulator). Newegg purchase came with cheaper shipping. Possible issues with older hardware and some usb chipsets

Overall Review: So after unboxing and setting everything up, I ran into a strange issue during the configuration when only one controller was detected (which paused the setup). Thinking the battery was low, I plugged the controller into a front usb port of the computer to charge it a bit more. The controller was instantly detected and I completed the setup with the other fully functional wireless controller. Later I managed to get the system to detect the other controller wirelessly through the steam vr window's pairing function, updated the firmware for all components, and had no issue completing the tutorial program. After downloading a proper game and attempting to restart steam vr, I could not get the system to detect either controller, and attempting to re-pair them failed each time with the controllers timing out. As the official support faq lead me nowhere, I discovered through google that there are known issues with certain motherboard usb chipsets. Currently, the only way I can get the system to reliably function is to plug the headset hub into a usb 2.0 slot, unpair the controllers through the steam vr lighthouse console, turn the controllers on while plugged into a free usb slot, unplug the controllers, and voila - controllers paired to the system and functioning fine wirelessly until I restart steam vr. As I understand, many people having similar issues have remedied their problems by installing a certain pci-e usb 3.0 card recommended for use with the oculus rift. I may look into this down the line, but for now, my little startup ritual gets things running. I'm convinced the vive is working fine and not in need of an RMA, but I'm sure many people would think otherwise if they ran into the issues I did.

Pros: Full in room VR experience. Fairly simple setup. I mounted my base stations to my wall so with like 30 minutes of planning and work everything was setup. Arizon Sunshine is a must get when you purchase the HTC Vive. It is a quality VR experience. There is plenty of FREE VR apps in the Steam store front, so you can have a quality VR experience right out of the box. Love that I got mine on Black Friday and got $100 of the regular price and a free blue tooth headset.

Cons: Care is needed when HTC tries to push a update to you. It has never happened to me, but I have been told/read of users who did the update and then bricked their base stations or headsets. My logic is; if the equipment is working I will skip the software updates.

Overall Review: Plan on ordering a HDMI to mini HDMI cable, especially if you are connecting to your monitor with standard HDMI. You MUST have at least a Nvidia GTX 970/980 to get the needed 90 FPS. I have a 980 and have no issues. One last thought, be mindful of your ceiling fans. I destroyed the one in my offce while playing a game of virtual fetch with a robotic dog.

Pros: - tracking is amazing : super-accurate and no lag - controllers are excellent - *highly* recommend tweaking the resolution (see below), massive improvement for those systems that can handle the processing demands. - overall, the Vive is fantastic, and well worth the price and the setup time

Cons: - a little bulky (unavoidable) - tethered (there are wireless adapters in the works)

Overall Review: If you have a top-end pc, you can *really* up the resolution (I'm running 2.2x native, have experimented with up to 3.0x). Google 'vive supersampling' to get many tutorials on how to do this. There is one config file you have to edit (adding/editing the 'renderTargetMultiplier' setting). The difference is night and day. I'm setting allowAsynchonousReprojection to 'on' as well, which removes virtually all stutter in the current version. I also want to give serious props to HTC for continuing to improve this product. In the 4 months I've owned this, I've already receive several updates to the software and the firmware. These updates have *significantly* improved the product (along with driver updates for my GTX 1080 FTW, I've been able to up the supersampling from 1.8x to 2.2x, and even higher on some titles). This is an excellent product with excellent support.

Pros: -So much fun -Unlike anything you've ever done, unless you've tried VR before obviously -Partnered with Steam, and not face book. -Set up was decently easy, just watch a quick YouTube video before it gets here and you'll already know what to do -Controllers last forever, and charge quickly -Controllers have haptic feed back with vibration, actually adds a lot to the experience -Head phones it's currently coming with (The Plantronics) are honestly pretty good, but I would say use some higher quality ear buds so you don't have something extra on your head. (It comes with earbuds!) -Not just for gamers, everyone that's tried it has had an absolute blast. I suggest introducing people with "The Blu" and "Ultimate Booster Experience" -So far my favorite game how ever is The Brookhaven Experiment, by far.

Cons: -It's hard to get the headset just right at first, but you get use to it. You have to center the lenses on your eyes so that your peripherals aren't blurry, you actually have to wear the headset like Ski goggles, so resting on your cheek bone and a little higher than you would think. The two grey rings holding the Velcro adjustment straps actually pull outwards, so you can physically move the screen inside the headset further or closer to your face, I'd keep it as close as possible unless you wear glasses. There's also a nob near the front that adjust the screen closer or further like this / \ depending on how far or close your eyes are from each other. -The big, and only con from me is the price. -EDIT AS OF JANUARY 14TH 2017: After a week or so of playing, I became more comfortable and used to the vive, knowing what it should look like, how to place it on your face, etc. I noticed 2 dead pixels in the left eye (not stuck, they're black as black). Normally I would ignore it if it was on a monitor, but having a OLED screen a few inches from your face, it's extremely hard to forget about... it's like a 3D dot right in your face, like an eye floaty almost! The same day I noticed I had the dreaded stuck in touch bad on one of the controllers, which is a big issue, for games like rec room where you use that to teleport around, I would have to switch the controllers around because it was impossible to push down/activate. HOWEVER, I won't deduct an egg because Newegg is replacing the entire vive, very easily. Even if I wasn't in the 30 day return, HTC has been great with their RMA's and fixing pixels or controllers, so I feel safe with this purchase still, and I can't wait to get my vive back, and I will update on the replacement

Overall Review: -A lot of people complain about the cord, but honestly once you get everything on, and the cord is facing behind you, you instantly forget about it and are enjoying your immersive VR universe. -A lot of games right now are more "experiences" and don't have a whole lot if any replay value, but you can tell game developers are really picking up with VR and better and longer games are coming out almost constantly! -It's new, it's going to have some issues and some kinks here and there requiring you to do some googling, restarting, and all that fun stuff.

Pros: 1) Very easy to set up in totality. The base stations need to be positioned correctly and depending on what kind of room you're setting up in can pose a few challenges. But they come with all the hardware you need. If you wan to screw them into your walls it's very easy to do. 2) The games and applications (Google Tilt brush) are excellent products to experience your new VR system. Google Tilt brush is absolutely amazing in many respects. I would recommend watching some Youtube videos for some cool ideas when using the program. Once you wrap your mind around the fact that you're painting and creating in 3 dimensions then the real power of that application comes to fruition. 3) Most of the games (including the ones with the system) that I have played (even a few of the free, less than stellar games on Steam) are all pretty awesome. VR is just an amazing experience. 4) Zombie Training Simulator is super fun and addictive. It's cartoon based so your kids can play it without really getting scared. When the zombies start rushing you in huge mobs it can raise your anxiety a bit though. 5) I have the base stations installed on rafters attached to the ceiling about 15 feet apart. The room is about 19' x 19' and I can easily exceed the boundary that I have drawn out for play space without any loss of connection at all. The responsiveness is simply amazing and very stable. 6) I fire up my computer and all VR components fire up without hesitation...every time

Cons: The cables attached to VR head set and pressing on the back of the head set can create some discomfort after an hour or so of playing. I constantly have to adjust the cables a bit. But it's certainly a small inconvenience. - Once in a while some of the games won't load properly and you have to start and stop them to get them running. This doesn't happen to all games or even the majority of them but it can happen. I rarely ever get kicked out of a game....its happened maybe once or twice in the 3 weeks I have been using it - There is a lack of full VR games out there. Although there are a lot of games for VR there is a lack of full-length professional games. But keep in mind we are at the forefront of a computer revolution with VR in my opinion. This is the ground floor and it's already awesome. It's only going to get better and better. - Although the resolution is very good with the Vive you do have to make sure you've positioned the headset in the middle of your vision and tightened the straps accordingly to get the best visuals. Peripheral vision can be blurry, especially if you haven't centered the headset. However, there is a knob on the headset that lets you adjust the distance of the focal length between the eyes (like binoculars) when your using it. This can help offset the blurry visuals.

Overall Review: I researched all the VR options out there before I decided on the Vive. To be honest it was a pretty easy choice. The Vive comes with the physical hand controllers and in my opinion any other VR system that does not have this is severely limiting the experience. A game controller can only go so far in VR and cannot give you the experience you need for many of the games out there. Secondly, I don't have a PlayStation so that option was out and the fact that the PlayStation VR setup coming out is only a sit down experience. Meaning that it only uses front facing cameras to create the VR experience and you won't be able to get up and walk around in a 360 degree environment. This might appeal to some and in fact may be the only option for people without the room to set up base stations like the Vive, but it certainly is more limiting than a 360 degree experience. The Occulus Rift still does not have hand controllers for its system so this automatically excluded itself from my choices. Lastly, the HTC Vive is teamed up with Valve, arguably the best gaming platform out there. They are also opening up the Vive's room scale 3D tracking system to the public to help broaden and speed up the evolution of VR. This is a good thing. I'm not one to usually buy cutting edge software and hardware and like to wait a year or two for the bugs to be worked out etc. But once I tried VR for the first time about 2 months ago in my office and I 'stepped' out of the game I was playing and back into 'reality' it was a moment of understanding that Virtual Reality has really arrived to us, the consumer. We are in for a heck of a future with this technology.

Pros: - Owner of the HTC Vive purchased from Newegg for easier shipment to non-us country. - Equipment is very simple to set up. Be sure to have a decent amount of open space (6ft. by 6ft. roughly) - SteamVR setup is also a very simple setup. The FAQ's by the Steam community covers a lot of troubleshooting if errors do occur. - The depth of immersion is surreal. - The HTC Vive headset has a very comfortable fitting that can be adjusted. - The HTC Vive controllers are designed friendly for use. - I haven't experienced outter lights permeating into the Headset (Be sure to spend time properly adjusting!) - Cable's provided were more than ample in length for a 10ftx10ft setup. - The equipment is pretty darn durable! I have hit the controllers and headset quite a few times and no damages were incurred. - VR Desktop makes it easy to keep the headset on and immerse yourself in games that may not necessarily be for the Vive. - All of my family and friend's I've invited to share the experience were amazed. Especially those that were around since the Attari days, to see technology come so far. - Watching movie's in Theatre mode with headphone is enjoyable. Especially if you watch horror films like "The Conjuring" and really freak yourself out.

Cons: - (Personal Experience) Occasional dizziness, headache, or motion sickness accompanied certain style gameplays. I was able to overcome a lot of this by continuing to play the games that caused these symptoms in moderation. - Lacks a lot of games for the time being (inevitably more in depth Indie and AAA-Games will begin to partake) - Sweating, Sweating, Sweating! The Headset after prolonged use becomes sweaty! Which can cause perspiration to build up onto the lense which will require a wipe down. If you don't sweat easily you're in luck! - The Headset cord gets in the way... While playing a game and tripping over the cord or having it touch you occasionally takes you out of your immersion and requires adjustments. I suggest a swivel hooked into the ceiling to keep the cord off ground and rotating as you do.

Overall Review: This is an amazing product overall and i'm very satisfied with my purchase. If you have children, I would ensure you watch over them while using this product because damage is very costly! Unless you have the money for a replacement. I want people to know that you need to verify that your Desktop/Laptop is capable of using this product before you purchase it! Check out the HTC Vive website for requirements, manuals, guides, drivers, and software! Be sure to update your GPU drivers prior to installing. If the install goes well but it just doesn't seem to want to work, try a reboot! I had that issue at first and being I work in IT the thumb rule is: 99% restart, 1% fix action. IT IS WORTH GETTING! :)

Pros: - Everything - enjoying the purchase.

Cons: - There is only one con - the long chords connected to the head.

Overall Review: - I have a feeling in the future, when Rev2 of vive comes out, maybe it'll be wireless.