Inside the VIVE PRO HMD

[FrgMstr]

We already got our first to two VIVE PROs to use for the VR Arena at the next FRAG LAN Party here in North Texas. And while I am not going to be taking ours apart any time soon, the guys over at iFixIt have torn theirs down already.

Check out the video.

It’s been two years since we tore down the HTC VIVE. Today the VIVE Pro landed on the teardown table and while it may have upgraded optics and the potential for wireless VR (Hallelujah!), we’re still going to tear it apart (professionally)

 

[alamox]

and that ladies and gentlemen sells for a thousand dollars, the parts cannot get even close to 200 bucks imo.

 

[Chaos Machine]

This product really is DOA due to price, I don't know what htc was thinking, especially with the Samsung Odyssey delivering the same quality visuals in the HMD+controllers for less money.

 

[Accursed]

This product really is DOA due to price, I don't know what htc was thinking, especially with the Samsung Odyssey delivering the same quality visuals in the HMD+controllers for less money.

I bought my Vive pro at microcenter the day of because I couldn't get it any other way. A quick search on their website shows they are now sold out and even the $1,100 bundle is sold out.

So yeah, for now, htc is fine.

 

[Master_shake_]

I bought my Vive pro at microcenter the day of because I couldn't get it any other way. A quick search on their website shows they are now sold out and even the $1,100 bundle is sold out.

So yeah, for now, htc is fine.

did you have a vive?

if so, how are the screens when compared?

 

[Lizard Testes]

did you have a vive?

if so, how are the screens when compared?

I did (do). All the reviews I've seen are correct. It's good but not earth shattering. Definitely more of a 1.5 than a 2.0. I kinda feel like this is what the original Vive and Rift should have been.

But at the same time it would be a massive bummer to go back to the original Vive (which I'm going to try when I get a bit of free time, I hadn't used the Vive for a few weeks so it wasn't the best head to head comparison). I feel like the increase in res will definitely make me want to play games like FO4 quite a bit more.

Text is massively improved.

SDE is significantly better but of course not eliminated.

I haven't tried a car racing game yet which I suspect will be a big difference. Playing racing games with the original Vive I always felt like I did when I was a kid playing NFS on my friends shitty early 90s SD big screen: shit at distance is so fuzzy you can't tell whether it's a car that you're headed straight into or a tree off the side of the road, until you're about 1.5 seconds from impact.

Non screen stuff:

If you've got a big head and wear glasses the Pro is WAY better. My glasses are wide and inflexible and putting on the original I had to slide my glasses into the Vive and then put it on all at once and then adjust the location of my glasses. With the Pro I just put it on like you're supposed to, it doesn't try and jam my glasses into my eyeballs. Whether or not this could mean a potential negative impact for small headed people, I don't know, but I would assume not.

Ergonomics overall are probably a bit better than the deluxe audio strap on the original Vive (and of course miles better than the original strap).

I think I preferred the original Vives dial for screen distance than the new method of pushing a button and then sliding it in and out, but it doesn't really matter.

I knew/felt going into this that $800 was a ripoff and my feeling hasn't really changed but at the same time I'm glad I've got it. I never expected it to be less than 500 or 600 (I thought the people saying 350 or 400 were on crack) so to me an extra 200 to 300 to be an early adopter isn't a big deal. If it had come with wireless for $800 I'd have been fully on board, value wise.

 

[Master_shake_]

I did (do). All the reviews I've seen are correct. It's good but not earth shattering. Definitely more of a 1.5 than a 2.0. I kinda feel like this is what the original Vive and Rift should have been.

But at the same time it would be a massive bummer to go back to the original Vive (which I'm going to try when I get a bit of free time, I hadn't used the Vive for a few weeks so it wasn't the best head to head comparison). I feel like the increase in res will definitely make me want to play games like FO4 quite a bit more.

Text is massively improved.

SDE is significantly better but of course not eliminated.

I haven't tried a car racing game yet which I suspect will be a big difference. Playing racing games with the original Vive I always felt like I did when I was a kid playing NFS on my friends shitty early 90s SD big screen: shit at distance is so fuzzy you can't tell whether it's a car that you're headed straight into or a tree off the side of the road, until you're about 1.5 seconds from impact.

Non screen stuff:

If you've got a big head and wear glasses the Pro is WAY better. My glasses are wide and inflexible and putting on the original I had to slide my glasses into the Vive and then put it on all at once and then adjust the location of my glasses. With the Pro I just put it on like you're supposed to, it doesn't try and jam my glasses into my eyeballs. Whether or not this could mean a potential negative impact for small headed people, I don't know, but I would assume not.

Ergonomics overall are probably a bit better than the deluxe audio strap on the original Vive (and of course miles better than the original strap).

I think I preferred the original Vives dial for screen distance than the new method of pushing a button and then sliding it in and out, but it doesn't really matter.

I knew/felt going into this that $800 was a ripoff and my feeling hasn't really changed but at the same time I'm glad I've got it. I never expected it to be less than 500 or 600 (I thought the people saying 350 or 400 were on crack) so to me an extra 200 to 300 to be an early adopter isn't a big deal. If it had come with wireless for $800 I'd have been fully on board, value wise.

sounds like a definite purchase later when the price drops.

800 ain't bad but when you factor in exchange and tax here that shit is almost 1200

thanks!

also how are the headphones? do they cover your ear? how's the sound?

 

[Lizard Testes]

sounds like a definite purchase later when the price drops.

800 ain't bad but when you factor in exchange and tax here that shit is almost 1200

thanks!

also how are the headphones? do they cover your ear? how's the sound?

Yeah I think it could be a good buy after the first price drop. Who really knows what they're thinking but it really seems to me that the early adopters are gonna get screwed harder than usual on this particular piece of hardware. Either that or sales are going to stagnate hardcore after the initial purchasers run out.

Headphones are on-ear, and comfortable, with a large range of physical adjustment. I'd guess they're the exact same headphones as are in the deluxe audio strap but don't know for sure. Which IMO means they're totally fine but no one is going to confuse them for a pair of Audio-Technicas or something. I have some decent over ear headphones and am a bit of an audiophile and I know the sound isn't as good but I still wouldn't ever bother removing the Vive headphones to use my better ones, the convenience and ergos outweigh the relatively minor increase in sound quality AFAIC.

 

[boushidosan]

Would it be worth it to sell my existing Vive setup and get the new one?

 

[Lizard Testes]

A quick sold listing ebay check shows $140 to $225 for headset only sales. And about $350-400 for complete systems. Which actually means it's probably frequently going to be better to just sell headset only. You sell headset only for 175, buy the new one for 800, your new money is 625. You sell the whole system for 400 and buy the new 1100 bundle and your new money is 700.

I'm hesitant to say anything either way at this point since I haven't spent that much time with the Pro yet plus I really want to spend an hour with the original and then go straight to an hour with the pro, but I'd lean towards not worth it right now.

$800 for a 4k Vive headset only I'd say worth it.

$800 for the Vive Pro headset only but plus wireless I'd say worth it.

$800 for the actual Vive Pro I just have a hard time seeing anything other than a $300 early adopter tax. If you're fine with that then yeah it's worth it. But you're still gonna want to get the 4k when it comes out.

It's like the Titan tax, except maybe even a little worse?

 

[Iratus]

I just want to know If the resolution is enough that labels are readable in DCS, if they are I’m sold. If not, I’ll wait for the next one.

 

[noko]

I just want to see a Kyle Bennett review on these first . . .

Still think VR is amazing as well. I figure first time we see any kind of discounts for these will be Christmas time period. These are meant more for the Professionals using VR to do work and of course avid Hardcore VR gamers.

 

[Chaos Machine]

I bought my Vive pro at microcenter the day of because I couldn't get it any other way. A quick search on their website shows they are now sold out and even the $1,100 bundle is sold out.

So yeah, for now, htc is fine.

Do you think that is because they are selling like hotcakes or they aren't making many of them? I am a Vive early adopter so I've already sunk over $900 into the system between the deluxe audio strap and original kit. I draw the line at another $800 for just an upgraded hmd. That's a level of fleecing that they can Fuck right off with, particularly when there are better priced alternatives with comparable quality. I'll wait for the sale or gen 2 rift.

 

[Hagrid]

Yeah, will wait for Kyle's review. Kyle, do you still have the Rift to do a comparison on that as well?

 

[MavericK]

All reviews I have seen point to, "it's an improvement, but not an $800 one."

 

[Accursed]

Do you think that is because they are selling like hotcakes or they aren't making many of them?

I bought the original within a couple of minutes of it being offered, and also paid the exra $100 for the deluxe head-strap. I don't know how many they made, my comment was that they're selling what they have, so it looks like whatever they are doing is working for them as they're not sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Once they start sitting on a shelf I think HTC will drop the price, $700, then 600, maybe further down. But as long as they're selling as many as they're producing I don't see how that's a bad strategy.

My take on it is we'll be buying the knuckle controllers soon enough and then I'll have an extra HMD and an extra set of controllers. All I'll need is the lighthouse units and I've got a second set. At that point sell it complete, give it away, or leave it for the kids.

 

[Lizard Testes]

I just want to know If the resolution is enough that labels are readable in DCS, if they are I’m sold. If not, I’ll wait for the next one.

They are, though I want to say only if you're running super sampling. I think installing the Pro set me back to 1.0 and they were almost all unreadable but I played this morning and upped supersampling back to 1.5 and they were all legible. It might depend a little bit on your seating height/position, but that's not much different than real life.

 

[Iratus]

They are, though I want to say only if you're running super sampling. I think installing the Pro set me back to 1.0 and they were almost all unreadable but I played this morning and upped supersampling back to 1.5 and they were all legible. It might depend a little bit on your seating height/position, but that's not much different than real life.

Awesome. Thanks very much.