Pimax Crystal Roadshow Event Berlin +Through-the-lens video!

[Dagwoodyt]

Another interesting video. I am not fond of having to use multiple 3rd party apps.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Dagwoodyt

[-332FG-Gordon200]

 

[Varibraun]

 

[Broadway]

have taken the plunge and confirmed my order on the  Crystal , hopefully here in a couple of weeks 

[Guest]

10 hours ago, =DW=_Broadway said:

have taken the plunge and confirmed my order on the  Crystal , hopefully here in a couple of weeks 

"Now we are processing Crystal pre-orders from 2022. All pre-orders made before May 30th should be processed and shipped within the next two months."

Edited May 25, 2023 by Hetzer-JG51

[-332FG-Gordon200]

 

[Broadway]

Eye tracking and DFR now in demo mode , due for release in a few weeks (they say June , so let’s agree August). I do wonder if there will be any way to have DFR enabled on IL2 , would love to get 120Hz on a 4090 , even with some options turned down ! 

[Chilli_40]

 

[Varibraun]

Just received my Pimax order available email (reserved on 11/11/22, eastern US).  I decided to pull the trigger and it says delivery in 2-3 weeks.

[Dagwoodyt]

4 hours ago, Varibraun said:

Just received my Pimax order available email (reserved on 11/11/22, eastern US).  I decided to pull the trigger and it says delivery in 2-3 weeks.

Hopefully not one with polycarb lenses??

Edited June 7, 2023 by Dagwoodyt

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Varibraun said:

Just received my Pimax order available email (reserved on 11/11/22, eastern US).  I decided to pull the trigger and it says delivery in 2-3 weeks.

Looks like mine will not be until autumn then (pre-ordered beginning of March).

[Broadway]

ordered day 2, payment 2 weeks ago , confirmed address 6 days ago , now with Fedex in China,  ETA 16th June  Would be happy with poly lenses, as glass will follow and end up with spares , maybe to use with glasses on and glass ones will be with VR Rock lenses over top 

[Varibraun]

14 hours ago, Hetzer-JG51 said:

Looks like mine will not be until autumn then (pre-ordered beginning of March).

 

I think I remember in one of the YT interviews with Pimax, they said they expected to ramp up production through the summer, so maybe not that long.  Plus, you will have a little longer to hear from some of the "regular" folk whether we feel like it is worth the expense with Pimax.  Finally, there could also be a Valve announcement in the meantime - that certainly would have given me pause on pulling the Crystal trigger.  So, not all bad to wait a little longer.

 

17 hours ago, Dagwoodyt said:

Hopefully not one with polycarb lenses??

 

Yeah, I had the same thought when making the decision whether to complete the order.  I will let you know what I get, but I ultimately agreed with @=DW=_Broadway that I think I would rather get it in my hands to try it out knowing that the glass lenses are promised.  With their checkered history, my view is that Pimax's future is likely going to live or die with this small VR community on the Crystal.  I think they know that - so my fingers are crossed about their promises to the early adopters.  We shall see...  

[dburne]

They are not getting off to a good start with Crystal imho.

One big selling feature - and this is direct from their website:

Quote

Pimax has always been praised for its image quality and wide FOV. To achieve this, a lot of parts come together, but at the heart are the glass aspheric lenses.

 

Yet sounds like many buyers are receiving units with plastic lenses for the heart of their headset, at least for now. Course some well known  You Tubers are receiving glass lenses. 

Anyway yeah I am biased - will be interesting to see what comes of this Crystal down the road - and how long it takes for them to deliver it "feature complete"...

[Broadway]

but is not every other mainstream suppler using polycarbonate lenses, and when i asked Pimax about my order they were not sure if it would be glass or not , ie they are on the cusp of supplying glass as standard, and for those without they will send out once available, i do agree Pimax are a bit of a gamble , however i also believe they probably have the best mainstream HMD for simming  today, that will change soon, but i am ready for a change now, so that's why i ve taken the plunge 

 

[dburne]

32 minutes ago, =DW=_Broadway said:

but is not every other mainstream suppler using polycarbonate lenses, and when i asked Pimax about my order they were not sure if it would be glass or not , ie they are on the cusp of supplying glass as standard, and for those without they will send out once available, i do agree Pimax are a bit of a gamble , however i also believe they probably have the best mainstream HMD for simming  today, that will change soon, but i am ready for a change now, so that's why i ve taken the plunge 

 

 

Their website states glass lenses for the Crystal as I quoted above. What others provide has nothing to do with it. That is false advertising imho. Perhaps eventually everyone will have glass lenses, bad way to go about it though.

This is the behavior that is typical of Pimax, appears they will continue it through the Crystal. Which is a shame really.

And does it even work as a stand alone yet? Another big feature listed.

And how about that eye tracking? Oops another one.

Edited June 8, 2023 by dburne

[TCW_Brzi_Joe]

I remmember from pimax forum they will deliver glass lenses to everybody, but now they are not ready. For now they ship non-glass, and glass later.

They said glass from July, but pimax is always late.

[Dagwoodyt]

Hopefully we'll get some info on total delivered cost when these headsets start arriving.

[Broadway]

About 1550 GBP incl tax and shipping delivered UK

[Broadway]

And just for reference,  Day 2, ie Nov 22 order has shipped with the 35ppd GLASS lenses 

[Varibraun]

First Aero/Crystal comparison (post below) that I have seen by someone in our forums.  @Winger decided to keep his Aero and is selling his newly arrived Crystal.  I suppose it might be a different equation with the price difference for someone not already owning an Aero (especially if they need base stations).  But we will see how the Crystal holds up as the new high end release when we start seeing more arrivals and impressions here.

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Varibraun

[SR-F_Winger]

As for my impressions...:)
The image quality IS better than the one of the Aero. With the aero you have a slight "roughness" effect over the whole picture. With the Crystal you dont have that.
I dont want to write for hours but here is a simple win and loose comparison:
Image Clarity - Winner Crystal -> good comparison would be high gloss porn magazine vs matte comic pages.
Local Dimming - Winner Crystal -> Aero doesnt have that
Chromatic aberrations - Winner Crystal -> doesnt have any while the Aero has. Guess i just got used to it and it doesnt bother me.
Color shifting - Winner Crystal -> non existant with the Crystal and really bad with the aero. In flightsimming IMHO irrelevant since you do not have too many "pure" colors besides of eachother. It becomes VERY visible in windows with the Aero.
Ease of use - Winner Aero. Pimax software is a bit clumsy - might improve over time thou.
Comfort out of the box - Winner Aero. Aero is lighter and the halo strap just makes wearing it more comfortable. To be fair: with good headphones the weight is about the same.
Performance - on par i would say. Both supportopen XR. In DCS however the are has the edge because of supported DRF. Will be working with the Crystal soon.
Build Quality - Winner Aero. The crystal is not shabby but the Aero is just premium.
FOV - Winner Crystal in both vertical and horizontal cathegorys.
Sweetspot - Both have full edge to edge clarity. But the fact that the aero is less prone to distortions if yor eyes are notth dead in the middle of the lenses makes the Aero the winner in my book.
So dont get me wrong. The Crystal is not a bad headset. If i didnt have a Aero already I would be happy to keep it.
The image Clarity of both headsets makes so much diffrence when it comes to reading gauges and - more importantly - identifying contacts at higher range. I had all the other headsets before and the Aero and Crystal are the first headsets that finally make it possible to a degree thats needed to be flying competitively imho.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Winger

[Broadway]

i think that is a fair  summary, also from scratch the Aero is about 20-25% more (with lighthouse requirements) , which is what swung my to the Crystal , as  i am happy to tinker with settings,   Did you try the Crystal in Il2 , and further game specific observations that could help the community decide ?

[SR-F_Winger]

3 minutes ago, =DW=_Broadway said:

i think that is a fair  summary, also from scratch the Aero is about 20-25% more (with lighthouse requirements) , which is what swung my to the Crystal , as  i am happy to tinker with settings,   Did you try the Crystal in Il2 , and further game specific observations that could help the community decide ?

Hey, no i didnt try it in IL2 since i dont fly it anymore currently and dont plan to in the forseeable future - just love DCS;)
Just posted it here since i wamnt to sell it and here actually the guys that potentially want one are reading.
I sell my crystal for the price i payed for it.
Other games I dont play. But another big win is the included controllers with the crystal.
For simming you dont need them. I dont have any with my aero. Everything i need there is the buttons on the headset.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Winger

[Dagwoodyt]

???

[Broadway]

Above video does highlight concerns, i know the strap issue was resolved with better packaging (but may be a weak point for future failure?), and that the glass lenses are now shipping, as mine ordered on day 2 comes with them. Other issues are not deal breakers for me, and maybe some upside ? (Talk of wider. FOV lenses , maybe instead of the 42ppd lenses promised and not delivered)

 Pimax have not handled the release well, but reading their Discord they appear to be supporting very well with follow up and detailed support.  I also think if you just use for flight sims (as i do) you need to look at the pros and cons for the genre.  Certainly not for the faint hearted, but often the case with newer companies pushing the boundaries, as i msure the Apple HMD will be very polished, but again maybe not for. PC based flight sims. 

[Dagwoodyt]

 

[dburne]

Why in the world they designed this to require battery usage while using tethered to a PC is beyond me.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, dburne said:

Why in the world they designed this to require battery usage while using tethered to a PC is beyond me.

It's required of them by Qualcomm, the chip producer. No idea why, maybe the chip can't take a direct charge.

[Dagwoodyt]

16 minutes ago, Hetzer-JG51 said:

It's required of them by Qualcomm, the chip producer. No idea why, maybe the chip can't take a direct charge.

Battery swap process seems problematic for the long haul.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Dagwoodyt

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Dagwoodyt said:

Battery swap process seems problematic for the long haul.

I'll be doing the same with mine as with the Pico, hook it up to a phone-charger off the mains.

[Broadway]

Have been up and running for last 24 hours with the Crystal (glass lenses) in IL2  , plus VR Rock lenses.   Will post more details over coming days but so far a nice upgrade from the G2

[Varibraun]

 

[dburne]

4 hours ago, =DW=_Broadway said:

Have been up and running for last 24 hours with the Crystal (glass lenses) in IL2  , plus VR Rock lenses.   Will post more details over coming days but so far a nice upgrade from the G2

 

You should first really try to get some sleep...

[Dagwoodyt]

Often the comment sections are more helpful than the video. ?

[Varibraun]

Just received ready for shipping (confirm your address) email - so for those who are counting, 8 days from full payment to shipping.

[Drum]

What's it like in IL-2 guys?  Inquiring minds want to know.  ?

[Varibraun]

10 hours ago, Drum said:

What's it like in IL-2 guys? 

 

Mine still appears to be in China despite the "ready for shipment" email I received on 6/15.  I just reached out to Pimax Support for an update and will post again once shipment is underway to keep everyone aware of my payment to delivery timeline.  I am also interested to hear how it is going so far for @=DW=_Broadway

[Varibraun]

These two now just need to have a baby - maybe "delivered" by Valve within the next 9 months... 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Varibraun

[Panzerlang]

On 6/21/2023 at 4:58 PM, Drum said:

What's it like in IL-2 guys?  Inquiring minds want to know.  ?

Finn has done a good number of IL2 vids and he's rating it highly. He seems to be getting a solid 90fps too.