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Finally Got my Rift - Vive owner comparison - Plus question about tension straps..

comixcroz
Expert Protege
I got my Vive about a month ago and I just got my Rift on Monday.  I was fully expecting to prefer the Vive.  I have been absolutely loving the Vive and I am amazed by everything it has to offer.  The motion controllers are amazing and the roomscale experience is very, very fun.  The games are hit or miss but there are enough interesting games that have kept me very happy with the purchase.  It is a ton of fun and I do not regret the purchase at all. 

I got my Rift thinking that I might sell it but decided to give it a spin first.  With my DK2 I had already played Chronos and Lucky's Tale.  I thought the games were really fun but didn't pack the punch of the VR experience I had with the Vive.  I may be in the minority but even after playing the Vive for a full month, when I put on the Rift CV1 I was blown away by its overall quality.  I am a video buff and minor differences in quality to others tend to be a big deal to me.  I don't even know the specs here but my personal experience is that the visuals on the Rift surpass the Vive's by a noticeable amount.  I don't know if it is the lenses, the screens themselves or their calibration.  I have heard that the HMD is light and very comfortable but for some reason I never really felt that was going to sway me one way or the other.  After playing VR for a little over a month, comfort and weight is a very big deal.  I put on the CV1 and it is super comfortable and I don't feel weighed down like I do on the VIve.  I remember feeling that way when I first put on the Vive after using the DK2.  This was a much larger jump and I immediately starting dreaming about the ideal experience - the Rift CV1 HMD with the light house tracking and motion controls of the Vive.  The final piece that makes the Rift superior in my opinion is also another factor that I dismissed early on - the integrated headphones.  After playing the Vive and absolutely struggling with the ear buds, they are a very welcome relief and are just there and very comfortable.  Sound great too.  The ear buds on the Vive keep falling out and are just uncomfortable.  

I will not be selling either system, which kind of sucks for my wallet but it is what it is.  I want them both, because they are both "better" in their own way.  The Vive's tracking is better - plain and simple.  Once Oculus puts out the touch controllers, I feel that the tracking will still be superior on the Vive.  

That being said - everything else is better on the Rift in my opinion.  If I absolutely had to choose one - it would be the Rift (and I am shocked to have this opinion).  

Question - Regarding the tension strap on the Rift.  It is supposed to spring back in, correct?  Mine appears to be slightly broken and the tension needs to be created with the velcro.  It does appear to have some spring on one side, but just a minor amount.  The right side has no spring or tension at all - it just glides in and out.  I really don't want to return this for a new HMD as I am really happy with the state of the lenses and the screens are perfect.  

Thanks!
17 REPLIES 17

FX2K
Heroic Explorer
Both of mine spring the same, although the cable  can sometimes restrict it, making it feel like the spring is missing, a small adjustment and all is well.
CV1: Ordered 6th Jan 2016 - Est Delivery Some time in May... DK2: Ordered: 8th of Aug 2014 - Delivered: 14 Oct 2014

comixcroz
Expert Protege
@FX2K Are you saying that the HDMI cable is getting in the way while the CV1 is on your head?  I'm actually holding the HMD in my hands and when I slide the "tension" straps out - I don't feel any tension that makes it snap back inside.  I can push and pull them in and out so nothing is in the way of mechanism, at least externally.  

FX2K
Heroic Explorer
If I relax the cable, so the side straps have room to move, without the cable getting in the way, then the springs are fine and equal on both sides.

What I mean't was, sometimes the cable itself grips and prevents the left side from moving, but only requires me to  feed the cable back through the little clip 'guide' thing so it has room to move.

It does sound like yours has an issue in that respect 😞
CV1: Ordered 6th Jan 2016 - Est Delivery Some time in May... DK2: Ordered: 8th of Aug 2014 - Delivered: 14 Oct 2014

comixcroz
Expert Protege
I see what you mean.  Yeah, the side with the cable clip is actually the side that has the slight spring feel.  Ok - I suppose I will contact support... 

Useful comparison @comixcroz, thanks for posting!

Zoomie
Expert Trustee


comixcroz said:

This was a much larger jump and I immediately starting dreaming about the ideal experience - the Rift CV1 HMD with the light house tracking and motion controls of the Vive. 


I posted something very similar before either of these headsets was released.  I still haven't tried Touch, but from what I've seen I feel confident I'll prefer them to the Vive wands just based on their ergonomics.

My ideal would be the Rift HMD with a front camera, Lighthouse Tracking, and Touch controls.  I haven't changed my opinion and I think many people here would be in the same boat.  Hopefully CV2 for both of these companies get closer to our ideal.  The integrated headphones was definitely the way to go.

I'll have the chance to try Vive this weekend so I'm pretty excited to FINALLY make my own first-hand comparison of the two.

I too found the HDMI cable bound somewhat, reducing the spring on the left side of my Rift.  Most of the time it's not an issue, but I do wish the grommet was a little less sticky and let the left side expand as easily as the right. 

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C Clarke

comixcroz
Expert Protege
The front facing camera on the Vive is great in theory, but for me it royally screws up the tracking.  So I can't even make use of it in its current configuration.  It must be a common problem as well because it popped up in Steam VR when I was troubleshooting the tracking problems and it asked me to turn off the camera.  I did and voila it was back to tracking perfectly.  

lenne0815
Adventurer
Compare jitter on both systems, that was the last straw for me, sold the vive instantly.

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
comixcroz did you try dialling back the cam quality because at max setting it can cause issue but there's a slider to lower it? Maybe you can find a better solution there rather than disabling it entirely.


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.