The Index thread (please keep to subject)

Agreed, although I like to wear Knuckles like gloves, this isn't why I prefer them over Touch, and of course old Touch is still awesome. I really like having all my fingers and Knuckes fit better in my hands, but that may depend on the size of your hands. I'm also fond of the trackpads, although few games support them (like Alyx, Doom VFR and Garden of the Sea). 

Note that my post was not to stir another heated discussion about which controller is best, I just thought it was funny that some try to copy parts of the Knuckles design. 

Totally understand that you were not stirring anything @RuneSR2 - was not my intention to suggest you were. I was using it to reflect on what we are seeing across all the forums - this is obviously not the only one I visit. To be frank we all seem to be spending more time on other forums, as this one has been "quiet" of late - and those topics discussed are related to Oculus only indirectly. It may be that as the focus is on Quest now, most Quest-users are "doing" rather than "talking" about their hardware (a good thing I think). And those with questions about their Rift-S purchases seem to discuss more on the closed FB Oculus forums than come here, for the obvious reasons. 

Comrade_Ivan said:

I love my Index. I really do. But I am still having a hard time recommending this headset. If anything, it's getting harder to do so...

I TAKE IT ALL BACK!!!!

Lol, it's been 3 months since I made that Index review, and boy oh boy did a do a full 180 on my first statement.

It has quickly become my main HMD - I sold all my other headsets since getting it (I did keep just one Quest after upgrading the $#!t out of it), and have been using Index roughly 5-10 hours a week.

And all along I kept saying "Index is a great headset, just don't buy it" to anyone who listened. I just didn't think it was worth the price of admission given the alternatives.

All that changed today.

Reason? My left controller developed a drift issue.

And now that I'm facing an RMA process, the thought of being without Index, even for a day, is making my stomach turn in knots.

In the age of social distancing, Index has enabled my distance socializing. And the few times I took the same excursion with my Oculus, it just hasn't been the same.

Admittedly, I'm whining; I know just how much of a 1st world problem this is. Hell, I have a pretty effin sweet headset to substitute Index with. But this just highlights to me how wrong I was about telling everyone that this bad boy isn't worth a K (even the 1.4 K in Canadian pesos). I would gladly drop a K right now knowing what I know.

I will add that Index isn't a headset one should own as a sole HMD. Given the issues that I had so far, I think everyone should have at least one backup HMD of a cheaper kind (Quest, I'm looking in your direction).

But I can also safely say that anyone debating getting one should definitely take the plunge once supplies are restocked.

I certainly was tempted originally but you and Runes put me off buying one.

1000 dollars is a lot money and if I pay that kind of money I do not want to make compromises. I still see the index as a compromise. Especially with the LCD screen and the FOV as I would want a large increase in both vertical and horizontal.

Even the controllers are still drifting even after the clicking issues.

I think I will sit and wait to see whats on the horizon for this and next year or until my poor old CV1 dies an Honorable death. 

If these were available in Australia, I would have one for sure.  At least the controllers, lol!

Just to show you how committed I am (or reasons why I should be committed) I broke down and ordered a Quest w/Link Cable a few days ago.  It should get here in a few days.  What was I thinking, lol!  I'm going to blame the corona shutdown.  

I cannot imagine it's going to give Rift cv1 2xSS performance but at least it's oled with mechanical ipd.

Luciferous said:

I certainly was tempted originally but you and Runes put me off buying one.

1000 dollars is a lot money and if I pay that kind of money I do not want to make compromises. I still see the index as a compromise. Especially with the LCD screen and the FOV as I would want a large increase in both vertical and horizontal.

Even the controllers are still drifting even after the clicking issues.

I think I will sit and wait to see whats on the horizon for this and next year or until my poor old CV1 dies an Honorable death. 

I think Index is much like a big-brother to Rift-S, and better at everything like res, fov, tracking and sound. And Index has similar problems as Rift-S - too bright in dark games and temporal antialiasing makes everything super-blurry. 

But when Index shines - like it does in Alyx and Boneworks - then it's a fullblown Gen2 hmd and way beyond anything I've ever seen using my CV1 ss 2.0.

Also performance in Alyx is off the charts, maybe it would be too using CV1, but I've seen many users of Oculus hmds having problems with SteamVR performance lately - using native Index drivers when playing Alyx and Boneworks I've experienced none such problems. Actually I'm in awe about the performance I get from my old GTX 1080 in Alyx and Boneworks. Maybe it's a good idea separating Oculus Store and Steam. It's really working fine only using Index for SteamVR, while I only use CV1 for games supporting native Oculus drivers (which does include some Steam games - and of course you can also revive most Oculus games).   

I was thinking yesterday that now is a great time for the Index, because Valve has fixed so many things. Especially SteamVR Home now feels and looks similar to Oculus Home and Dash - and I do not really notice the columns anymore, which were the one thing bothering me the most about the Index. I can't think of a hmd I'd like more than the Index right now - but I still love having the possibility to use CV1 ss 2.0 when needed. Alyx experienced using the Index is worth more than 1k to me - maybe that sounds kinda silly, but I really mean that nonetheless. The higher res and ss image quality mean that I can see very far in Alyx, and everything simply looks real - I do not notice any SDE in Alyx or Boneworks. Even Lone Echo CV1 ss 2.0 looked dated yesterday, never thought I'd think that - but I have not used CV1 for about 2 weeks, it does take some time re-adapting to the CV1.

Well that's good to hear.

I was always put off because Pyro refunded, Comrade* was never enthusiastic and you were always using both headsets.

I'll probably wait to see what plays out this year. HTC have a new one coming which looks interesting and it says no compromises (hope they include FOV in that statement).

Luciferous said:

Well that's good to hear.

I was always put off because Pyro refunded, Tom was never enthusiastic and you were always using both headsets.

I'll probably wait to see what plays out this year. HTC have a new one coming which looks interesting and it says no compromises (hope they include FOV in that statement).

Did you mean the HP's Reverb G2? - G2 could be very interesting, but if it's using 2160x2160 res I'm not sure that's a good thing for those of us who don't have a 2080 Ti. In some games Index is way too much for my GTX 1080 - that's why I need CV1 asw 2.0 for games like Stormland. Of course you may not need any ss for 2160x2160, although I suspect you'll then suffer some jaggies even in that res... 
In many ways the normal Gen2 res of 2880x1600 seems like the sweet spot even with a 3080 Ti if that card is like 30-40% faster than 2080 Ti - and then you can go for the 120-144 Hz whenever possible. 2c. 

PS. Could be interesting to see some benchmarks comparing different 2880x1600 hmds in SteamVR - just to see if performance is much the same, or if there are differences maybe caused by drivers. Being able to play Boneworks using Index res 200% (the equivalent of ss 2.0 for Index res) in solid 90 fps even when further adding 2xMSAA feels like some unnaturally great performance using my old and dusty GTX 1080 - interesting if you do get similar performance using non-Valve hmds. Thus are there any performance benefits of using a Valve hmd in SteamVR (at least for compatibility I'm convinced Index is Valve's main focus when performing quality assurance)... Not sure my CV1 still receives similar attention when Oculus forces new updates... It's getting harder and harder to choose an optimal hmd, lol.

I would be more interested in hearing how the Index compares to a Rift S in Alyx.
I myself am getting amazing performance in Alyx with my Rift S and it looks awesome. 

dburne said:

I would be more interested in hearing how the Index compares to a Rift S in Alyx.
I myself am getting amazing performance in Alyx with my Rift S and it looks awesome. 

You're also running 80 Hz with 80% of the Index physical res using a 2080 Ti, it probably should look and play beyond awesome ;) I fully agree, could be interesting with some real benchmarks - although probably not using Alyx unless we find a way to stop adaptive ss...