Valve Index is now available so now what?

[Blitzen]

Steam has just notified me that the Valve Index is now immediately available to me,having pre-ordered it some months ago.Now comes the hard part: should I pull the trigger for this $700.00 headset .I’ve had a Pimax 5K for the past few months & am pretty happy with it with a few gripes. If I buy the Index I’ll sell the Pimax ( with modified 3rd party headstrap & base station ) to help pay for the Index.My question is this:is the Index worth it? Does it substantially improve Screen Door Effect...maybe eliminate it ? How about FoV ? The Pimax really does improve this & have learned to take it for granted.Finally “Sweet Spot” is it reasonable? Is the distance of the Base Stations from the player critical?I have plenty of room to my left but somewhat limited to my right.Pimax requires only one Base station. I’d like this new VR headset to last and wonder if the Index is substantially better than most of the newer VR head sets marketed this year.I have 6 more days to make a decision, so advice is needed in the very immediate future.Thanks!

Edited July 27, 2019 by Blitzen
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[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

You might feel buyer's remorse, as you're forfeiting FOV (<200° vs <130°), RGB modification and a glare-free experience.

 

Some liked it though, I think chiliwili69 did like it. There was a reviewer on YT during a +1hr streaming session who said "it can't beat it" and got flamed for simply saying it. ?

 

You could also keep your Pimax5K+, get a second basestation, and the Index Controllers. I'm using the Controllers, they work flawlessly software- and hardware-wise. The thumbsticks also click and work in all directions.

[chiliwili69]

As Fenris said it depends very much on you, both are great devices.

My comparison is here.

The best choice for you would be to get the Index and compare yourself. Then sell the one you don´t like. (you may lose some money on depreciation but you will get the best for you).

 

Just a couple of additional comments on the Index:

 

- I only use it you IL-2 VR, I don´t play any other thing (I already have played all games and experiences with the CV1, many of them are awesome, but VR could be very addictive and I want to limit myself and do other "real" things). But yesterday I tried one of the best experiences I have tried, Apollo VR HD. It was the new HD version and with the Index. It was nice but I really noticed a lot of glare (good rays) since it is a experience with a lot f black and shiny white. But in IL-2 it really don´t notice it in day light missions.

 

- On the confort side, after 2 hours use, the device leave me some marks in my face (just below eyes). It is perhaps because I put too much pressure on the wheel (to get maximum FOV!!) and eliminate any play between my head and the headset. It think a thicker cushion on the Index will be a bit better, but it depends how old and sensitive you face skin is. In my case, the Rift was also leaving some marks on my face, but the ergonomy of the original Rift was better than the Index. The Index is a bit more heavier and bulky than the original Rift.

 

- On the performance side, the Index is quite good in IL-2 VR with 80Hz and 140%SS. I don´t need a better PC.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

What vertical resolution is 140% in your case? SteamVR shows a different % regarding each headset after all... they're so inconsistent ?

[FTC_Mephisto]

I sent my Rift S back after receiving Index. I do like the fit and the sound quality, the FOV is clearly larger and makes me almost fully forget the scuba mask effect. In terms of image quality I couldn't really see large difference to Rift S. Of course if you come from Rift CV1 the improvement is massive. Main downside is the performance drag and the fact that I do have some issues with tracking. I only had a chance to try it several time in IL-2 and sometimes the central position is lost several times in a span of 1-2 second then again it continues without a problem. Maybe I need to read up on how properly position the base stations. Didn't have any issues with glare etc. but this is all very subjective of course. 

 

 

[Blitzen]

Well ,with the improvements made possible with the new iteration of the Pitool, I think I’ll hold on the Pimax 5K at least for the time being.I do like the wide FoV ( I did notice that the new Pitool no longer offers various settings for FoV,tho,) and although SDE is still noticeable I think its better than the newest Oculus.

I think I’ll hold out for a bit and hope eventually one of these companies will produce a truly SDE -free device that will work with Bos’s pledge to improve distance visibility ?

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

It does offer these settings.

 

You needed to uninstall the old PiTool, unplug headset, restart Computer. Then install the new PiTool, restart and from then on go and plug headset back in.

 

They stated that. You're missing the features because you didn't follow procedure. There are several background processes, as mentioned by blitze earlier, that needed to remain offline because they'd block the files to overwrite. It's a beta patch after all

 

I recommend you follow the procedure and reinstall it properly.

 

Best regards & gl

 

Fenris (@~95% GPU utilization now on .180)

Edited July 28, 2019 by SCG_Fenris_Wolf

[Jade_Monkey]

I will be getting mine tomorrow night. Upgrading from Vive 1, i think ill be a happy camper.

[Blitzen]

39 minutes ago, Jade_Monkey said:

I will be getting mine tomorrow night. Upgrading from Vive 1, i think ill be a happy camper.

I'll be interested in what you have to say about SDE.For now...thanks to newest Pitool update 7 improvements I think I'll stay with Pimax5k for the time being.?

[seafireliv]

On 7/28/2019 at 2:53 PM, Mephisto said:

I sent my Rift S back after receiving Index. I do like the fit and the sound quality, the FOV is clearly larger and makes me almost fully forget the scuba mask effect.

 

 I just think of it as wearing aviator goggles.

 

I have to, I can`t afford to fork out so much money! Then i`d probably need an even better pc! ?

Edited July 29, 2019 by seafireliv

[GP*]

Any former Vive pro to now Index users? I’m hoping to expand the sweet spot a bit for instrument reading and checking 6. 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Go_Pre

[Jade_Monkey]

Just got mine this week, really enjoying so far. The first two days were a bit glitchy but the day after i got it there was a nice Steam VR patch that fixed a few of my issues.

 

Now i just need to figure out the best settings for IL2 and DCS.

[blitze]

On 7/28/2019 at 6:07 PM, Blitzen said:

I did notice that the new Pitool no longer offers various settings for FoV, tho,

 

As Fenris pointed out - need to make sure you have a clean install of PiTool 1.0.1.180 to ensure all is well with the settings on offer.  Selectable FOV is still there on the Games Tab in Settings.

 

Me, I just killed all Pi processes and PiTool in Task Manager then installed over the top of the previous version.

 

Fairly straight forward.?