A community for PC Master Race.
Rules:
On one hand, the Valve Index launched for $1000 in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, that is $1306.25. And you needed a powerful PC to be able to use it, where this can be used standalone. Only effectively costing an extra $194 for standalone processing is pretty impressive.
On the other hand, it is difficult to justify this price considering cheaper headsets on the market, like a $600 Meta Quest 3. Unless you dislike Facebook that strongly (justified).
I'd happily pay more to not use a Meta product.
I’ve been desperate to get into VR (both as a player and a developer) but being tethered wasn’t for me - it was the biggest gripe I had visiting VR experiences etc. And I dislike Meta on a philosophical and moral level.
So yeah, $1500 for “not Meta” is fine by me.
Yeah, I use a Quest 3 for 14 hours every day. I will definitely be getting Steam Frame even if this is the price. Or at least I will sign up to get one, up to the lottery if I do, lol. Speaking of... I should stop trying to convince people how awesome it is... no... yeah... Definitely too expensive, you wouldn't even like it..... please don't sign up for the lottery.
Ah who am I kidding... it is very much worth that price for anyone that knows they are gonna put it to good use.
How do you use vr for fourteen hours everyday?
It's my computer monitor, my TV, and where I also happen to occasionally play VR games. When not in full VR games, my computer or TV are just floating windows wherever I want them to be. And I'm in full color and 3D passthrough. So basically using them like as if they were already glasses... just super big heavy ones, lol.
Oh, and the practicality of how I physically keep it running 14 hours a day, bobovr infinite hotswap battery system.
How does your neck muscles look? I can imagine you get some workout and some tear.
Using as computer monitor, is that nice? Like coding or writing documents etc? Do they act like a monitor or do you use several workspaces so it feels like multiple monitors?
I wasn't aware this was an option.
The headset is like a pound or something, people wear much heavier hats. My neck is just as weak as it always was, lol. My nieces have been doing VR since they were 4 and 5. They never had issues. Would just be heavier than a pair of glasses would be.
The monitor is not quite full 4k, but it is more clear than 1440p, so still worth setting to 4k anyway. I mainly just play computer games on it, but you can do anything you want, your computer screen is just a floating window you can put wherever you want.
I do have 2 monitors in VR, only one in real life. I mostly use the second one for like a browser window, if I need resources for a game, or I want to put a streamer or Vtuber on in the background. If you press 'Y' on the controller, the monitors swap places, so I do that rather than looking over at it or positioning them in a way that I can see them both. Rather have the one I'm focused on be a 2000 inch TV at 20 feet away. Big enough that it's still like 80 degrees field of view. Just the right size so I can see it all while holding my head still, don't have to turn my head to see corners.
My real life computer monitor is a TV, it's 4k, but old enough that it only does 60hz. The first virtual screen is a representation of that one, so also stuck at 60hz. But the second virtual screen is 4k 120hz. So for any easier to run games, I play them on that one. Unless my sister wants to watch, she of course can only see the 60hz screen.
I remember being so excited for oculous back in the day, but then it got bought by Facebook and I knew I'd never buy one.
And then Palmer Lucky let everyone know who he really is and I knew I'd really dodged a bullet.
I won't use a Meta product under any circumstance, but I'm not going to pay an unlimited amount of money, either. If the alternative can't get reasonably close to Meta's reasonable prices, that just means I will continue to never get VR at all.
If there was a way to hack Meta Quest I might buy one. Finding a hack probably would have been a better use of Valve's resources.
But I wouldn't pay more not to use it, I would just not pay at all. At $1500 I'll just keep not enjoying VR.
Subsidized hardware should probably always be labeled as such. Facebook eats a ton of cost each headset. Makes up for it in tracking data, ad serve, and software sales though. Well. Sorta assuming you ignore the billions they take in losses for the "metaverse". Quick, buy this cheap thing so we can cut out the competition and then raise the price! A tale as old as time.
The index I own is still working great, and my kids used the hell out of it.
And the Steam Frame has alot more value added features, not to mention all the components they do have in common are at least a little step up from Quest 3. Other than color passthrough, which will be an add on accessory for those of us that want it. But, nice for the people that don't, they don't have to pay for it. And kind of nice for those of us that do, cuz we'll get to pick which one we want, and I want an expensive one, cuz it's important to me.
Unpopular take here, but I think it's a realistic expectation. I bought the valve index several years ago, and that cost me a grand. I would expect next Gen stuff to be even more expensive, even in the best of times. Add all the tech hardware fuckery of the last couple years to the mix and, well, I wouldn't have expected any lower price.
Does it suck? Yeah. Was the price expected? Also yeah.
It's not really next gen tho. The hardware is comparable to Quest 3.
It's using snapdragon 8 gen 3 which is more powerful than the xr gen 2 by 25%
And it's not owned by meta and many games that you already own will play on it without a PC, and it can be linked to your PC, unlike the $3500 Apple Vision Quest or whatever the hell it was called.
As a non stand alone piece of hardware I didn’t see the value. With this new system i am not shocked it’s more expensive than the Steam machine. It’s basically its own game system. I’d argue more so than a machine or deck ..
This is a complete nothingburger article that's just repeating Tyler McVicker's speculation. I like McVicker, but to act like his guess is insight from a "Valve insider" is dogshit-tier journalism.
Tyler McVicker doesn’t know shit about fuck. He’s “leaked” the release date of the Frame several times now and been completely wrong. I really don’t think it’s fair to call him a “Valve insider” at this point, or to write articles weighting his speculations over anyone else’s.
I still can't say it wouldn't be worth it at $1.5k for people that really wanted to get into VR... but unfortunately my price limit is $750 US for me to consider a launch day order, and obviously that ain't happening. With component prices being what they are, it's not realistic for me to expect any lower anymore.
But the best I can hope for is a memory crash and DRAM makers come scrambling back to fill the sinkhole void from the collapsing circular financing cycle. Today that's just a pipe dream.
No one other than meta seems interested in making an affordable midrange headset. I get that they want to push the tech but it's out of the budget for so many gamers that might otherwise be interested in vr.
I'm sure the frame is going to be amazing but I would be happier if I could get something for $500-700, even if it was equivalent to the the decade old HTC vive or similar headset.
I wouldn't say the Quest is cheaper, you just pay a recurring non-cash cost. It's a price I'm not willing to pay. I'm also not able to pay the expected cost for the Frame right away, but I hope there are enough early adopters to keep the manufacturing line going long enough for me to be able to afford one.
I’ll still buy it.
I get why they did it, but its a shame they made it a standalone device. That itself drives the cost up, now even more so with memory shortages.
Again, 500-700 yeah sure. 1.5k? Absolutely not.
I would never have put money on it being less than $1k.
Even the index was expensive and that was in a more affordable time period.
I thought it would even out to about 800 dollars before the component crisis.
At one point, Valve had stated that they were shooting for a price under the Index, so that would have been below $1k.
Sucks Valve got back into the hardware right when Chat and Claude ate it all
This is pretty much the only option for potentially seamless wireless VR on Linux so it's still going to sell
Just checked my CS2 Steam Inventory for the first time in many years. What the hell happened to the value of skins?! Most of them have increased twentyfold in value.
I will definitely be selling those to pay for the frame if the frame is this expensive. Rather have nice hardware than some skins.
Well... there goes all my expectations to leave META VR ecosystem, so long steam frame
So probably 1200 or 1300 on launch - people will think they are getting a deal.
For anyone trying to setup VR with Linux, I have had good results with WiVRn and a Quest 2.
I did expect the price to match the index after the ram shortages, but going past it by $500 is a big ol yikes.
I read in a thread yesterday someone mentioning 600 as starting point. The previous steam VR was around 1k if i'm not mistaken. Due to SamAltmanism the prices of hardware are high as hell, so it was unrealistic ( to me) to be less than 1.5k
Looks like I'm never getting into VR for the same reason I didn't years back. Price continues to be expensive, and only cheap options are meta which is a big no.
Fuck man. I really want to get into VR gaming, but that’s a ridiculous barrier to entry. The Quest 3 is reasonable, but I’m afraid I’ll buy it, love it, and want more.
The Quest would be fine if it weren't for Meta. I have a Quest 2, but I stopped using it over privacy concerns.
It worked great wired to my PC for PCVR. The wireless was pretty spotty.
I read lots of comments comparing the price tag to the Quest 2/3, but you all seem to forget that the Quest was heavily subsidised by Meta.
I'll take 2 of em.