Rift Arrived Yesterday. My review as former Vive owner.
I know, lots to read. Just skip if you'd rather not deal. I had the Vive in late May. Started off spectacular, but four days later, it developed an ever so slight background wobble (some call it jitter). It wasn't a frame or tracking loss. It was subtle, and maybe even unnoticeable to a VR novice (I'm not one). Originally, I was able to use the Vive for like 2 hours straight without a hitch. Once that issue kicked in, I was only able to last like 5 minutes before my eyes, brain and stomach knew something was not right. After trying out an endless barrage of suggestions, I gave up and emailed HTC tech support. Five days go by, no reply. I then tried the recommended live chat support; that never worked. Never. For two days I felt like my eyes were practically vibrating. It sucked. I finally felt better, and went back in to give the Vive another chance, thinking...maybe I was just having a bad few days. Nope, same thing - it messed me up for the rest of that evening. I don't know if this had anything to do with the firmware update, it could have just been a coincidence. The next morning, I called HTC directly. I actually got through quicker than I thought. I explained my situation. The customer support gal with a heavy accent offered to open a support ticket and have someone get back to me. Oh no, I said. I just received this machine 5 days ago ago - I'd rather have a refund since I am still within the window. I paid to ship it back, and I got my refund a week after they received my unit. I was planning to buy another Vive once they hit stores. I was paranoid about getting another one from HTC and the same thing happening. Oh, and my two basestations were clamped beyond tight in case anyone was wondering. So, it turns out, instead of going the Vive route again, I decided to go for the Rift. Here's the thing: While I had my Vive, the one game that I kept going back to was Lucky's Tale...using ReVive. Also, while room scale is pretty damn amazing, I seemed to prefer the sit down experiences. After a day's work, plus gym, I don't feel like walking around my living room all evening. In short bursts, yes, but give me my swivel chair and I'm happy. I got my Rift from Best Buy. This made up for headaches and loss of two shipping charges. First off, set up took literally 5 minutes. No power supplies, and my USB 3.0 ports worked! The Vive did not like my 3.0 ports so I had to use 2.0 (Vive setup overall was about 45 min in my case.). I already had the Oculus store installed (when I used ReVive), so I began to fire up some of the goods I was already familiar with. Alright, immediately the first thing I noticed. The God rays -- they're definitely more notable than the Vive's. Thankfully, like the Vive, it's only on certain types of screens, manly white text on back backgrounds (like credits). What really made me happy was the screen. To me, it looked sharper/cleaner than the Vive's. The text was readable just about everywhere on screen at once, without having to lean into to find a sweet spot. I was impressed! In addition, the SDE seemed almost non-existent (I have a Gear VR, and had a DK1/2 so I know the deal). As for the FOV, I couldn't tell the difference, but I think the Vive had a higher vertical FOV. The Rift headset is slicker-looking (for an HMD) , lighter, and easier to adjust. The on screen cross adjustment is such quick and easy way to get your eyes working, and the pretty impressive headphones are the icing on the cake. Best of all: A solid experience - no jitter/jutter/wobble whatever. A completely stable screen! I ran Dreamdeck and Lucky's Tale knowing how much I liked them on ReVive, but now that I was playing in their homefield, I indeed saw a difference. They seemed sharper, more immersive ...closer? My spouse and two friends gave it a try... I hardly had to explain anything - I handed them the included remote pad (not the XB Controller), and they were able to figure out how to move through the Oculus home with ease. My spouse who loved the T-Rex big room demo on ReVive, tried it in the Rift and said "oh, that feels a bit more intense". I purchased Ashar Wars 2, Pinball FX (Pinball fan here) and Blaze Rush so far. I loved all three. Completely polished solid experiences! Pinball FX has amazing animated themes surrounding the already 3D packed tables, built from the ground up for VR. They need to get more tables for this thing.. I love it! Blaze Rush blew my mind -- I felt like I had this huge racing set toy just below me. Again, super polished, every Oculus owner should get this! The 3rd person view works exceptionally well here - and the details! Ashar Wars is total arcade space shooter. I only played a few brief levels. It's totally an adrenaline rush! I wanted to start off with something straight forward.. later on I'll Eve or Elite out. I went over to Steam and fired up No Limits 2, which is an amazing coaster (and flat ride) sim. No Limits 2 has Rift support. There are hundreds of coasters to download on Steam. Many of them are actual recreations and themed! It's runs beautifully. I'm a coaster fan, so this was another reason why I wanted the Rift. I remember when i had my DK1 and the original "Rift Coaster" was my go to demo for showing off the tech. With No Limits 2, you have an endless supply of Rift Coasters, with perfect physics and even parks to explore! In closing. I think the Vive is a wonderful piece of hardware, especially with its perfectly tracked controllers, built in camera and chaperone system. I had an isolated incident and I wasn't the only one, but we were certainly in the minority. I'm just glad how the whole thing turned out. The Rift experience just feels more refined, Everything just flows beautifully together - like more thought was put behind it. I pop on the headset without fuss or readjustments. The Oculus store is still in its infancy, but I prefer the selection of games it has to offer. Plus, having access to Steam VR games extends the selection. The best part of it all: No weird feeling after hours of playing. I'm very satisfied already, and the Touch controllers aren't even out yet. I'm not going to get into a war about which one is best. This is what works for me. The Vive and Rift are both amazing tech, and perhaps I'll get a PSVR at some point as well.