A place to discuss any and all things Virtual Reality. tldr: If you’re on a budget, try it out. It’s great. I found Reddit reviews really helpful when choosing a headset, but they were often polarized. A fair number of “the CV1 is hot garbage” or “the CV1 is the pinnacle of VR” posts. I am adding my thoughts to the mix to help anyone else stepping into VR. As always, pick your budget and try and stick to it. My rule of thumb for non-essentials is to ask myself, “Can I buy this twice?”. If the answer is yes, then I know I’m in the right range. My VR experience I owned a CV1 when it released, but sold it and my desktop about a year later when I needed to be more mobile. I’ve used, but not owned, the original HTC Vive, Samsung Odyssey, Quest 1, and Quest 2. So, resolution-wise, the Quest 2 is the most advanced headset I’ve tried. I’ve recently been able to have space for a desktop, so I eagerly wanted to get back into VR. I’m a enthusiast of 3d screens (still enjoy my 3DS) and firmly believe that a low res 3d image is more immersive than one that is 2d and high resolution. Price:Excellent. I picked up a “like new” boxed device with warranty from a local shop for £200. If you’re feeling bold, you can get them cheaper on eBay. By contrast, the Quest 2 is £400 before adding any of the extras. I don’t believe the Quest 2 is worth more than 2 Rifts, and I expect the Quest price to start falling as new headsets come out this year. The Rift, by contrast, is pretty much at its bottom price. Setup:Simple. The sensors come with stands (unlike the Index) and the experience is streamlined. Comfort:Great. There’s no battery, no cameras, and very little hardware other than those screens slapped on your eyes. It’s very light compared to the stand-alone headsets. I think more modern headsets like the PSVR or Vive Pro 2 will win here, but we’re talking a fraction of the price. Controllers:Excellent. They’re also the same design as the Quest 2, which means it benefits from the Quest’s popularity in PCVR. There’s plenty of support. Tracking:Excellent. It’s all the benefits and pitfalls of external sensors. They track you perfectly when you’re in view. If you’re sitting at a desk, and your hands drop below the desk, then yeah, they’ll lose tracking. If you’re in room scale and your body covers your hands, yeah, you’ll lose tracking. In every other instance it “just works”. Sound:Good. The included headphones are similar sounding to a Koss Porta Pro, if you’re familiar with them. They’re not magic, but they do the job, and do it well. I have a nice pair of open back headphones that I’ll probably replace them with, but it’s not necessary. Edit: They can get tangled in long hair, by the way they attach. I find I need to undo any buns or ponytails before taking it off. Performance:Excellent. One of the big selling points, if I’m honest. The 1080p screens means a previous gen GPU can run VR just fine, which further reduces the price of entry into VR. I’ve been able to run Cyberpunk VR (both Luke Ross and Vorpx) comfortably at Medium settings on a 2070 Super. On less demanding games it super samples well. Visuals:YMMV. I think it is excellent. The obvious drawback is the “screen door” effect. The lower resolution compared to say, the Quest 2, means that normal text is hard to read without squinting, and distant objects are blurry. Nearby objects have a feeling of being behind a “screen door”, hence the term. For me, it’s not a big deal. Most games I play don’t use small font sizes. It’s most noticeably when looking at my desktop. To be usable it needs to be similar to a movie theater screen size. The screen door effect itself tends to fade into the background of my perception when things are in motion. It can also help my mind “fill in gaps” and make things seem more real, if that makes sense. A bit like how a Lucasarts adventure game can look better as sprites than in the upscaled remaster (Full Throttle comes to mind). That said, I can absolutely see the case for a higher resolution screen if you’re primarily interested in using the headset as a monitor replacement or interested in something like Microsoft Flight Simulator. The CV1 is weak in both areas. I’ve read others take issue with the “god ray” effect, which is a nonissue in my experience. They’re noticeable when there’s a bright light on dark background. It has a similar feel to seeing a streetlight on a mildly misty night. It has rarely come up in actual gameplay; I usually notice it during loading screens. Still, they’re there. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ An easy win is the OLED panel. Colors are great, blacks are great. Meta/Facebook If you’re strongly against Meta as a company, then try another headset. The Odyssey is in a similar price point on the used market. For what it’s worth, after setup, you can pretty much skip the default Oculus home entirely. You still need to run the app in the background, but there’s nothing stopping you from simply running Steam VR before you put on your headset. Conclusion It’s great. I was able to build a VR PC using second-hand components and grab a great headset for about £800. It’s by no means cheap, but a reasonable price for my budget. It’s something I look forward to using, don’t feel guilty about owning, and won’t stress if things break out of warranty. I expect headsets to start dropping in price over the next couple years as new display technology becomes the norm, so be smart, look at your budget, and think about what is important to you. In an event, I hope this helps someone Googling “rift cv1 2023 reddit” or something similar.
