2016 had given us not one but two VR ecosystem. Oculus’ Rift, which we had discussed in Part I, and the HTC/Valve Vive. Today, I’ll try and explain why I think the Vive is the a more technologically viable option of the two. This will not be an “unboxing” as those can be found all over the internet. In this post I’ll try to go over the reasons I went the Vive way.
I will not go over the details as for the usage of the system, his will be discusses at a later date, after I’ll be using the Vive for some time and gained some experience with the system and have found the correct balance for my rig. (as we do for all new hardware). I don’t believe in Reviewing a product 10 minutes after getting my hands on it.
I was initially very fixated on getting the Rift. But we have established that Oculus just didn’t want my money… fair enough.
HTC however did, and boy they took it. 900USD (800+tax+S&H) and that is just to get it in the US, I still need to fly it over… another 200USD… And that is before local taxes 😐 Compare this to the 600USD Rift (free S&H, no sales tax) + smaller box, leading to “only” 100USD of shipping. for me that translates to 400USD in purchase price alone, not to mention, local taxes…. Now you understand why I initially insisted on the Rift?