I’ve had issues with my Oculus Rift S for years now and it seems like the proprietary cable finally broke (I made a post about my current issue you can see here on !techsupport@lemmy.world) so I’m thinking about making a change but I haven’t really been tracking the scene in a while. That’s not to say I haven’t done any research but it’s largely limited to LTT reviews I’ve had sporadically recommended to me and those don’t really take into account follow ups after extended use and updates.

It seems relatively dominated by the Meta Quest 3 but I can’t tell how much of that is it being the new thing. I am also quite wary of Meta after how they handled the Rift S with updates and replacement cables.

Some other considerations I have are

  • Works with my desktop PC running Windows 11 so that I can play games I have on Steam and elsewhere like Arizona Sunshine and EmuVR. As well as watch VR movies. If it can pair up with a PC running Linux that would be even better.

  • Doesn’t have proprietary parts that I will likely need to replace at some point.

  • Minimal to no mounting of lighthouses and as little cables as possible.

  • Something that won’t require an abundant amount of troubleshooting. The inability to just put on my Rift S headset caused it to gather dust a lot of the time.

  • I’d prefer not to buy a Meta product. I am not super set on this as long as they’ve been better about their more recent products.

  • Some kind of passthrough mode so that I can walk around my place and do things like wash dishes and fold laundry would be nice.

  • I’d prefer to spend $700 or less. I am not sure how often or what headsets are expected to go on sale and for how much. I feel like there are options out there for this price that would be an improvement over Rift S and original PSVR that I’ve used.

If the Quest 3 is my best bet is there anything I should know about it? Maybe concerns over how it would connect to a PC?

  • UnbrokenTaco@lemm.eeEnglish
    8·
    4 days ago

    As far as I’m aware, your options for mid tier are Quest 3 or PSVR2 with the PC adaptor.

    I haven’t used either.

    Quest 3 - if you buy a wifi 6 router that’s dedicated to quest 3 streaming, you can supposedly do passable wireless using either the Steam app or Cordial Desktop on Quest. As the other commenter said, you might want to consider a third party headstrap.

    PSVR2 - No wireless option but there’s a cable (display port or HDMI - I’m not sure which) you plugin to your PC so the picture won’t have artifacting etc. Unfortunately eye tracking isn’t supported on PC. Also you won’t get the passthrough stuff you were asking about.

    Pico 4 - I dunno much about. It has a display port connector and can also do wireless but no idea what it’s like or if it’s still considered an option. Also, if you’re avoiding Meta, I’m not sure byte dance is any better. I don’t know what the future holds for their vr plans

    Then I think we start going up in price.

    There is supposed to be some Android VR headsets announced this year (like from Samsung) and there’s also the possibility of whatever Valve is doing with deckard at the end of the year (but that’s all rumour, leaks and speculation).

    Personally, I’d really love to see what Valve are doing but maybe that’s just my copium

    • no banana@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      4 days ago

      Virtual Desktop is pretty good for streaming to the Q3 too. Honestly the biggest area of improvement that Q3 could have is in the battery department. But as with anything wireless there’s always power banks.

    • Corroded@leminal.spaceOPEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Quest 3 - if you buy a wifi 6 router that’s dedicated to quest 3 streaming, you can supposedly do passable wireless using either the Steam app or Cordial Desktop on Quest. As the other commenter said, you might want to consider a third party headstrap.

      That wouldn’t be much of an issue though if I was plugging the headset directly into a USB C port on my PC though would it?

      Personally, I’d really love to see what Valve are doing but maybe that’s just my copium

      Same. I feel like Valve handled the Steam Deck really well with it’s specs/price point and their community support. I imagine their next headset will be a continuation of that for the most part but I feel like it’s going to be even more expensive than the Index and targeting the high end market

      • UnbrokenTaco@lemm.eeEnglish
        5·
        3 days ago

        Personally, I would rather get wireless working if I had a Quest 3 for PC VR because it’s a nice trade off for the compression. I’ve seen quite a few comments complaining about the lack of display port on Quest 3 due to the compressed video but I don’t know if that’s a vocal minority or not.

        I used to have a wireless Vive Pro and I do miss the wireless a bit.

        I don’t think Valve will go as premium this time. I think they’ve learned their lesson. I think the reason the Index costs so much is simply the lighthouse tech. Look at how much the base stations cost and how much the vive tracking pucks cost. Based on leaks/speculation (so, grain of salt) their current prototypes are using camera based tracking - which in theory, tells me they’re price sensitive

        • Corroded@leminal.spaceOPEnglish
          1·
          14 hours ago

          Personally, I would rather get wireless working if I had a Quest 3 for PC VR because it’s a nice trade off for the compression. I’ve seen quite a few comments complaining about the lack of display port on Quest 3 due to the compressed video but I don’t know if that’s a vocal minority or not.

          But would there be compression issues when using a USB C cable though? That’s what I’m wondering.

          I used to have a wireless Vive Pro and I do miss the wireless a bit.

          How does that work exactly? Someone else recommended the Vive Pro 2 and I was wonder how it was tethered or how it would work wirelessly. Would you rely on an add-on that has a built in battery?

          I don’t think Valve will go as premium this time. I think they’ve learned their lesson. I think the reason the Index costs so much is simply the lighthouse tech. Look at how much the base stations cost and how much the vive tracking pucks cost. Based on leaks/speculation (so, grain of salt) their current prototypes are using camera based tracking - which in theory, tells me they’re price sensitive

          From the rumors does it seem like it will be close to as premium as the Index? If there’s some hope for a happy middle ground maybe it would be a decent idea just for me to hold off.

          • UnbrokenTaco@lemm.eeEnglish
            1·
            10 hours ago

            I don’t have experience with the quest 3 so I can’t tell you for sure, I’ve just seen people complain about it.

            The Vive Pro uses fresnel lenses and comparatively is quite a bulky headset and is really showing it’s age. The Vive Pro 2, I have not tried it but the wireless adaptor can’t stream native resolution. Additionally it is still a very bulky headset. The wireless adaptor for these headsets is pretty expensive too. It’s also a bit fiddly with batteries and stuff though it worked for me. I’d be willing to bet it’s be out of your price range based on your post. The industry seems to have just decided that wifi streaming is the way to go for wireless, particularly over wifi 6 or 6e.

            Talking about more things I don’t have experience with, you could try checking out things like Pimax but they’re also expensive and possibly fiddly.

            In my opinion, there is no perfect option for VR at the moment and there aren’t a lot of options at the low end. Quest 3 seems like a good all rounder. PSVR2 is an alternative with few pros (including if you have a ps5) and a few cons (such as being bulky and I have seen some discussions on which has a better picture).

            I really just want to see what Valve does.

        • no banana@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          3 days ago

          I personally don’t find the issue with compression to be that big but I do recognize that it exists, of course.