Selling my CV1 --- moving to HTC VIVE

[Mickman]

Cv1 feels about 10% better than DK2.  The hype train on CV1 is ridiculous...  
  
 After the crap Palmer Lucky & crew have pulled the past months...  closing Oculus to Rift only users is terrible marketing plan & above all ...  the system is still relying on optical tracking.   I've had the Rift a few hours and feel I'll be selling it on FleaBay and order myself the HTC Vive.    Valve and HTC are open to all dev. platforms  & are simply embracing VR  not trying to corner of a section of the market.  I've tried all systems from DK1,Dk2 CV1 & now the Vive & it's clear that the Vive shines above the CV1 with or without the controllers...  Vive can easily be used in a seated manner as well.     Why restrict myself.   

[LV426]

Mickman, care to do a mini review of your CV1? I like honest first impressions reviews.  Easy to see you are not impressed but still.. A mini review, please? 

[Anonymous]

kojack said:

Yes, I am well aware of it using lasers. That doesn't change the fact that it's an optical tracking system, in fact it verifies it.

Optical:
Freedictionary: "Using light-sensitive devices."
Merriam Webster: "involving the use of light-sensitive devices to acquire information for a computer"
Oxford DIctionary: "Electronics (Of a device) requiring electromagnetic radiation for its operation"

Both the Rift and Vive use IR light. CV1 has IR light sources on the HMD and a camera to sense them. Vive has IR lasers in the light houses and IR photosensors on the HMD. In both cases the tracking is done via sensing light, so both are optical tracking. This is in comparison to non optical tracking systems such as inertial tracking (integrating data from accelerometers) or magnetic tracking (like Stem: pulses of magnetism alternating along 3 orthogonal axes in the base station are measured by 3 orthogonal coils in the tracked units).

It feels so good when someone writes exactly what I'm thinking - then I don't have to write it myself :smile: 

[Mickman]

I found the CV1 to be a great quality build.  The FOV is the same as the DK2.  The wider lenses reduce some of the blurring at the edges. There's a definite upgrade in resolution over the DK2. You'll notice it as soon as you try on the CV1...  but you can still view the pixels.  The first thing all DK2 owners will do immediately upon donning the CV1 is to check out the resolution...  Once completing my  initial inspections i sank into another Rift experience. Nothing new really.   There's the wider operating area due to the upgrade in sensor camera. The HMD sits well on the face compared to the DK2 which used to rest way to hard on the bridge of my nose... I found i was forever adjusting the DK2 or pulling the straps forever tighter just to get a half decent position on my face.  I have a fairly narrow face.. not broad & if you want to know my nose shape.. it's an average sized if not slightly pointy white caucasian male's nose.  🙂   I was not disappointed with the CV1... it's a great improvement over the DK2.. & I'm sure it'll be awesome once the hand controllers are released.  Oculus would have done a hell of a lot better if they'd held out & released once their controllers were ready for the shelves. 
 
 The onboard audio phones are silly...  waste of space.  Most gamers and devs. have quality headphones anyway. 

 I'm still gravitating towards the HTC VIVE...  Sure hope in coming years Oculus manage to get room scale VR operational.  That's where VR has already headed...  & they're falling behind  sad but true.  
 

[Anonymous]

Cancelled my CV1 and ordered a Vive as well. Can't wait ! We're all here as VR enthusiasts, and it's clear after this shipping debacle, lack of proper VR controllers, and atrocious video quality of the CV1 that the Vive is the real deal for 1st gen VR.

[Chassit]

Mickman said:

I found the CV1 to be a great quality build.  The FOV is the same as the DK2.  The wider lenses reduce some of the blurring at the edges. There's a definite upgrade in resolution over the DK2. You'll notice it as soon as you try on the CV1...  but you can still view the pixels.  The first thing all DK2 owners will do immediately upon donning the CV1 is to check out the resolution...  Once completing my  initial inspections i sank into another Rift experience. Nothing new really.   There's the wider operating area due to the upgrade in sensor camera. The HMD sits well on the face compared to the DK2 which used to rest way to hard on the bridge of my nose... I found i was forever adjusting the DK2 or pulling the straps forever tighter just to get a half decent position on my face.  I have a fairly narrow face.. not broad & if you want to know my nose shape.. it's an average sized if not slightly pointy white caucasian male's nose.  🙂   I was not disappointed with the CV1... it's a great improvement over the DK2.. & I'm sure it'll be awesome once the hand controllers are released.  Oculus would have done a hell of a lot better if they'd held out & released once their controllers were ready for the shelves. 
 
 The onboard audio phones are silly...  waste of space.  Most gamers and devs. have quality headphones anyway. 

 I'm still gravitating towards the HTC VIVE...  Sure hope in coming years Oculus manage to get room scale VR operational.  That's where VR has already headed...  & they're falling behind  sad but true.  
 

With this generation of VR devices, Rift or Vive or whatever, personally I don't see any point in room-scale VR at all... You are wearing a helmet tethered to a computer by a long & thick cable, with your "real" vision completely blocked off when the VR content is on. Room-scale movement doesn't sound practical because:

1. You can trip over furniture;
2. You can trip over your pets;
3. You can trip over your own tethering cable.

The future of free-roaming experience belongs to untethered devices or augmented reality. VR is best kept as a seated or couch experience for now.

[metalnwood]

Your review seems to be at odds with your first post?  So what about the vive is that much better, especially as you say even without the controllers the vive shines above the CV1.   The mini review was great but I was expecting the reason why it was a step below the vive.  I didnt get the impression you gave in post one?

[kojack]

chode81 said:

Cancelled my CV1 and ordered a Vive as well. Can't wait ! We're all here as VR enthusiasts, and it's clear after this shipping debacle, lack of proper VR controllers, and atrocious video quality of the CV1 that the Vive is the real deal for 1st gen VR.

Although the Vive rollout isn't all sunshine and roses either:
http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-orders-being-cancelled-due-to-payment-procesing-issues/

[Welby]

It's so funny that people are already speaking about the lack of Room scale on Oculus..

They REALLY want to believe that the Vive is so magically better than the Oculus Rift somehow.

Well let me explain this,i have both (CV1) and Vive PRE since i'm developing for both.

They are two awesome headsets and they are kinda similar.
Few things are better on the Vive,few things are better on the CV1,but forget to switch to the Vive and find who knows what kind of improvements.

First of all,without any need to mount the sensor on the wall or wherever,you can do a small - well tracked room scale experience with JUST one camera,something you CAN'T do with the Vive with just one lighthouse (even if you have two by default).

Oculus Rift has leds all over the headset in 360°,the Vive hasn't leds on the back,which means that the only headset that can be tracked without never lose the track at 360° with just one sensor is ONLY the Oculus Rift.

Infact i have made some tests and if you well position your sensor.. and you're at least 1m or more away from the camera,the camera FOV is really amazing and you can kneel,crounch and even go on the ground without never lose the tracking. If you want lose it you need to go almost on the side of the camera which is unlikely since it's gonna be on your desk.

So yeah i have played a small Room scale about 1.5m x 1.5m or probably more(just because i haven't more space,cause i think i could have go more far away than that). That's with just ONE camera.. I also want to noticed that short VR movies like "LOST" from the Oculus story studio already SUGGEST you to see it standing. So they well known the capabilities of the sensor and they are confident that if they want you to stant up it's because you'll then be able to kneel,seat down or just move on the sides (EVEN in 360°).

So now let's imagine what could be with 2 sensors.. really. I don't wanna say it but the ligthouses have a FOV as well. It's not that just because they shoot lasers then they are some "magical" stuff. They just have a FOV as the sensor.

So again,Rift CAN do room scale,can do a small one at 360° already with just one camera and will be able to do a much larger room scale with 2 camera,so let's stop worrying about that.

That said,the Vive has a slitghly bigger FOV than CV1,but the CV1 is sensibly ligther and much more balanced. The integrated headphones are high quality,not the best quality out there but already really good.. and having external headphones is just additional weight,cables (if they're not wireless),and if you look up or down there is the risk that they fall down.

The SDE seems slitghly better on the CV1,the lens flares seems slitghly better on the Vive.

The oculus touch feels sensibly better than the vive's controllers.

This is what i think about Vive VS Rift.But believe me that whatever headsets you're gonna prefer.. it's hard that you're gonna LOVE one so much more than the other because they're close each other. Even more when the touch will be out.

[Zimtower]

Welby said:

It's so funny that people are already speaking about the lack of Room scale on Oculus..

They REALLY want to believe that the Vive is so magically better than the Oculus Rift somehow.

Well let me explain this,i have both (CV1) and Vive PRE since i'm developing for both.

They are two awesome headsets and they are kinda similar.
Few things are better on the Vive,few things are better on the CV1,but forget to switch to the Vive and find who knows what kind of improvements.

First of all,without any need to mount the sensor on the wall or wherever,you can do a small - well tracked room scale experience with JUST one camera,something you CAN'T do with the Vive with just one lighthouse (even if you have two by default).

Oculus Rift has leds all over the headset in 360°,the Vive hasn't leds on the back,which means that the only headset that can be tracked without never lose the track at 360° with just one sensor is ONLY the Oculus Rift.

Infact i have made some tests and if you well position your sensor.. and you're at least 1m or more away from the camera,the camera FOV is really amazing and you can kneel,crounch and even go on the ground without never lose the tracking. If you want lose it you need to go almost on the side of the camera which is unlikely since it's gonna be on your desk.

So yeah i have played a small Room scale about 1.5m x 1.5m or probably more(just because i haven't more space,cause i think i could have go more far away than that). That's with just ONE camera.. I also want to noticed that short VR movies like "LOST" from the Oculus story studio already SUGGEST you to see it standing. So they well known the capabilities of the sensor and they are confident that if they want you to stant up it's because you'll then be able to kneel,seat down or just move on the sides (EVEN in 360°).

So now let's imagine what could be with 2 sensors.. really. I don't wanna say it but the ligthouses have a FOV as well. It's not that just because they shoot lasers then they are some "magical" stuff. They just have a FOV as the sensor.

So again,Rift CAN do room scale,can do a small one at 360° already with just one camera and will be able to do a much larger room scale with 2 camera,so let's stop worrying about that.

That said,the Vive has a slitghly bigger FOV than CV1,but the CV1 is sensibly ligther and much more balanced. The integrated headphones are high quality,not the best quality out there but already really good.. and having external headphones is just additional weight,cables (if they're not wireless),and if you look up or down there is the risk that they fall down.

The SDE seems slitghly better on the CV1,the lens flares seems slitghly better on the Vive.

The oculus touch feels sensibly better than the vive's controllers.

This is what i think about Vive VS Rift.But believe me that whatever headsets you're gonna prefer.. it's hard that you're gonna LOVE one so much more than the other because they're close each other. Even more when the touch will be out.

Finally a real comparison.

[LV426]

Mickman and Zimtower, thank you. Glad I have both on order . :smiley: