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excalibur28111
New Participant
June 8, 2025
Solved

First time user questions - Bought a used Meta Quest 3 512Gb

Hi,

I am a late in life (60+) user who has just bought a used Meta Quest 3 512Gb over ebay, to get into VR for the first time. To date, all my experiences with VR have been brief ones at expos and other public events, so I am pretty excited to have my own unit.

The device is not here yet, but I have already created a meta horizon account.

I would really appreciate if someone with experience could kindly guide me on the following please.. and apologise if there is some standard guide already which answers them! If so, can someone maybe kindly point me to it?

Thanks in advance!

1. What should be my first steps when the unit arrives? Register it to my meta Horizon account I guess, but after that?
2. Is there a way to check that all is as it should be, maybe some form of self-test?  Or maybe some well-known "failure" areas that could be why it was sold on in the first place? This is so that if there is anything wrong I can return it within the 30 day period.
3. is there a way to know when it was first produced and maybe first used by someone? Just to see how "used" it is?  Yes I admit I am the anxious type, and it is not exactly a cheap item, even when bought used.
4. Given that it is not coming with any software, what would be ideal first downloads for me to get into VR?
5. What are "must have" applications and games for the unit? I usually like to play games that are relatively slow - think "World of Warships", although I think i would enjoy "Doom" style and flight simulator type games too. I have games on my Steam account. Can I use these with this unit?
As for apps, I would mainly want to be able to watch movies on you tube and netflix on a big screen, and maybe watch a lecture as if I am in an auditorium. That kind of thing.
6. is there any way I would be able to (legally) get the batman game that was apparently given with the headset?
7. Should I update the firmware? I have heard that some units got bricked as a result.. how safe is it? Would Meta support me if the firmware bricks the unit?
8. I was thinking of getting the BoboVR M2 pro head strap with battery and BoboVR C3 carrying case a little later (once I am sure I want to keep the headset). Are these good purchases?
9. Any other tips and tricks for a new user please? For instance, should I keep eye drops handy?

Sorry for the many questions, but I am pretty excited about this and am just praying it does not give me vertigo!

    Choleni
    CholeniAnswer
    Honored Contributor
    June 8, 2025

    Hi excalibur28111 , welcome!🙂

    So; I'll try to answer some of your questions.

    !. Yes, you need to set up your Quest and pair it to your mobile app. After that you are ready.

    How to set up your Meta Quest 3 | Quest help | Meta Store 

    2. There are tutorials in the headset, teaching you how to use the controllers or how hand tracking works, so I think you'll recognize if something isn't working.

    3. Meta can tell the date of the first activation by the serial number, so you must reach out to Meta support if you want to know this......
    .......but honestly, I don't think this an truely useful information.
    To know that the headset was activated - for example - 6 months ago for the first time, doesn't tell you anything.
    I does not tell you how many hours it actually was running, also it does not tell you HOW it was used(relaxed gaming or workout e.g.)....... so, what's the point in knowing the date of activation?🤔

    4. It might be a good idea to take advantage of the one-month free trial of Horizon+.
    You can try out many different games to see what you like without having to buy them.

    Experiences | Meta Store 

    5. For me "must haves" are Beat Saber and Pistol Whip😁

    I guess, you'll get some more suggestions from other forum members.

    6. You need to buy it. You can only get it for free if you buy a NEW Quest 3/Quest 3s.

    7. You can' t avoid the update when you set up the Quest, but the version that bricked several headsets was v72 and this is months ago. Currently we are on v77, so you should be save.

    8. I also have the Bobovr headstrap and I love it.😊

    9. You can do if you tend to have dry eyes.
    Most of all....take your time to get used to vr.🙂

    Maybe have a look at this:

    The New Virtual Reality Player Guide to VR legs. - Meta Community Forums - 1089068  

    I wish you a lot of fun with your first own headset🙂

     

    View in thread

    4 replies

    Choleni
    CholeniAnswer
    Honored Contributor
    June 8, 2025

    Hi excalibur28111 , welcome!🙂

    So; I'll try to answer some of your questions.

    !. Yes, you need to set up your Quest and pair it to your mobile app. After that you are ready.

    How to set up your Meta Quest 3 | Quest help | Meta Store 

    2. There are tutorials in the headset, teaching you how to use the controllers or how hand tracking works, so I think you'll recognize if something isn't working.

    3. Meta can tell the date of the first activation by the serial number, so you must reach out to Meta support if you want to know this......
    .......but honestly, I don't think this an truely useful information.
    To know that the headset was activated - for example - 6 months ago for the first time, doesn't tell you anything.
    I does not tell you how many hours it actually was running, also it does not tell you HOW it was used(relaxed gaming or workout e.g.)....... so, what's the point in knowing the date of activation?🤔

    4. It might be a good idea to take advantage of the one-month free trial of Horizon+.
    You can try out many different games to see what you like without having to buy them.

    Experiences | Meta Store 

    5. For me "must haves" are Beat Saber and Pistol Whip😁

    I guess, you'll get some more suggestions from other forum members.

    6. You need to buy it. You can only get it for free if you buy a NEW Quest 3/Quest 3s.

    7. You can' t avoid the update when you set up the Quest, but the version that bricked several headsets was v72 and this is months ago. Currently we are on v77, so you should be save.

    8. I also have the Bobovr headstrap and I love it.😊

    9. You can do if you tend to have dry eyes.
    Most of all....take your time to get used to vr.🙂

    Maybe have a look at this:

    The New Virtual Reality Player Guide to VR legs. - Meta Community Forums - 1089068  

    I wish you a lot of fun with your first own headset🙂

     

      excalibur28111Author
      New Participant
      June 8, 2025

      Thank you for your reply and for making me feel welcome. I appreciate it.
      I don't think i am eligible for the one month free trial of Horizon as its not a new headset, but will see once it gets here. Thanks again

      Choleni
      Choleni
      Honored Contributor
      June 8, 2025

      The 1 months free trial is not for activating a new Quest.... activating a new Quest gives you a 3 month trial.

      It's for all users to try out the subscription.🙂

       

        glockstrr
        Participant
        July 29, 2025

        Hi... you are in for an awesome experience, from a user who has over 2K hours  and about 5 years of Virtual Reality game experience. I read your note and it brought back some earlier memories from when I first started using the Quest so I wanted to encourage you to stick with it. I certainly don't know if you will have the same experience as me but a good sized segment of the user base do experience what I did when I first started. I started to get discouraged because after about a half hour of using my Quest (this was the Quest 2 at that time) I tended to feel a little nauseous and just did not feel that well. I read a few articles like what I am writing here and just struck with it. After a short while (I took about a month) I didn't notice any difficulty at all. Nowadays, it's not even a thought. Needless to say, you may take to it like a duck to water and breeze on by, but if you are a tiny bit upset, Don't Give Up The Ship, experiencing VR in all it's manifestations is a BALL!

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