Mixed Reality Headset Meta Quest 3 Coming on October 10 at $499.99

[Space Lynx]

I only spent $500 on my index because I already had the controllers and base stations from the Vive. IMO at $500 the quest 3 is hard to justify given the price of the accessories and that some of those are essentially required to get a decent experience. You are going to have to spend at least $70 on the Elite headstrap to get decent comfort (or $130 if you want the battery on the back for better balance). The included audio solution still sucks compared to the index of course. It's a ridiculous $80 for the link cable if you want to plug it into your PC. Yes, $80 for what costs less than a dollar for them to produce. It's monster cable level BS pricing. $40 just for straps for your controllers, which are essentially two velcro pieces (index controllers came with a superior built in strap system). A whopping $300 to upgrade to the pro controllers, which is absolutely not worth it. Really they are earning massive margins on all the accessories, which is where they will get everyone who wants to have a decent VR experience.

If you are new to VR yeah the $1,000 for the index is expensive but you actually own that device and can reuse the controllers and base-stations with other PCVR headsets and potential future Vavle devices. You aren't being told to Meta of all companies how and when you can use your device. Valve's warranty is vastly superior as well.

I already decided I am waiting on Valve's next headset, I already love Steam Deck and will 100% be buying steam deck 2 in a few years, it just makes sense for me to stick with Valve's ecosystem even if it means a premium price. I am going to wait for Index 2 though as I am in no rush for VR.

 

[Octavean]

While I am interested in the Quest 3, I’ll give it a miss at least initially. This is coming from the owner of an original Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest (1st gen) and an Oculus Quest 2 (not the Meta branded version).

Had a similar pricing scheme as the Quest 2 at ~$299 been maintained with the Quest 3 then I’d definitely give it a go. It’s just not worth ~$499 out of the gate for me.

I also firmly believe that the Quest 3 should have had three option for purchase. First the current retail option. Second the would be the Quest 3 HMD paired with Quest 2 controllers for ~$50 less. Finally the third option would be just the Quest 3 HMD with no controllers leaving the choice of hand tracking only or a cheaper upgrade option for Quest 2 owners,….for about ~$100 to ~$150 less. If the Quest Pro controllers are sold for ~$300 USD then the Quest 3 controllers can feasibly be about ~$150.

Constantly changing the controller tech (Rift v1, Quest v1, Quest v2, Quest v3 and Quest Pro) just looks scatterbrained and daft. Giving a break on price to previous owners of products (controllers) just makes good sense.

Add to that their willingness to make past products obsolete (seemingly before their time) makes it difficult to say “shut up and take my money”.

Anyway, at the very least my policy is to not buy exclusive titles to a VR HMD because I may change manufacturers at any time.

 

[Space Lynx]

Quest 3 is not OLED either from what I have read... unless I missed it. I am hoping Valve Index 2 will be OLED.

 

[Vayra86]

I already decided I am waiting on Valve's next headset, I already love Steam Deck and will 100% be buying steam deck 2 in a few years, it just makes sense for me to stick with Valve's ecosystem even if it means a premium price. I am going to wait for Index 2 though as I am in no rush for VR.

Yeah I gotta say, the Deck is so close to perfect my faith in any headset Valve would release has definitely increased. Device is awesome.

 

[theouto]

I find it strange that Valve is incredibly beloved because they choose to do the right thing, which in the long run will net them more money than what many other companies are doing with their shady business models that will net them more money in the short run. Then I remember that valve is a private company and suddenly things make sense. Hoping to be able to scrounge up the money for an index one day, and that valve keeps up production alongside the deckard, and decides to make the index cheaper instead.

I already decided I am waiting on Valve's next headset, I already love Steam Deck and will 100% be buying steam deck 2 in a few years, it just makes sense for me to stick with Valve's ecosystem even if it means a premium price. I am going to wait for Index 2 though as I am in no rush for VR.

Oh man, get ready to wait for a big second, leaks for the deckard have been coming out for 2 years now, probably even longer.

 

[Kyan]

Oh man, get ready to wait for a big second, leaks for the deckard have been coming out for 2 years now, probably even longer.

Probably not for that long, steam VR 2.0 have been release this week and there's trace of battery level and other thing that point to a standalone and/or wireless headset.
I'm waiting for it too, it will for sure be my next headset to replace the rift S.

 

[Space Lynx]

Yeah I gotta say, the Deck is so close to perfect my faith in any headset Valve would release has definitely increased. Device is awesome.

device aside, SteamOS is insanely impressive. hell my games launch quicker and run better on Deck. Win 11 is sucking that telemetry so hard, slowing everything down, I call it the M$ BJ

Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty Runs 31% Faster on AMD GPUs in Linux Compared to Windows 11

Impressive performance differences detailed by a YouTuber

www.tomshardware.com

also this ^

 

[Octavean]

Indeed,…

I have more faith and confidence in Valve products than I do Oculus (Meta). The Steam Deck is an excellent product (well balanced for the price) and the same can be said about Valve Index with its rock solid tracking tech. It’s also not overpriced IMO.

Even Sony has support for its original PSVR on the PS5. In retrospect it’s fair to say that the PSVR wasn’t the best in class but given the design goals and existing tech they had to work with it is reasonable, overpriced at launch but reasonable. PSVR2 is overpriced too IMO but it has the potential to go down in due time.

If there is a significant price drop on the Quest 3, perhaps Black Friday 2024, then I’ll jump on it.

They have time to reassess the Quest 3 marketing and packaging. I hope they figure it out because previous owners know they shouldn’t need the new controllers and a price break wouldn’t go amiss.

 

[evernessince]

Quest 3 is not OLED either from what I have read... unless I missed it. I am hoping Valve Index 2 will be OLED.

Correct, it's LCD without FALD (full array local dimming).

 

[Space Lynx]

Indeed,…

I have more faith and confidence in Valve products than I do Oculus (Meta). The Steam Deck is an excellent product (well balanced for the price) and the same can be said about Valve Index with its rock solid tracking tech. It’s also not overpriced IMO.

Even Sony has support for its original PSVR on the PS5. In retrospect it’s fair to say that the PSVR wasn’t the best in class but given the design goals and existing tech they had to work with it is reasonable, overpriced at launch but reasonable. PSVR2 is overpriced too IMO but it has the potential to go down in due time.

If there is a significant price drop on the Quest 3, perhaps Black Friday 2024, then I’ll jump on it.

They have time to reassess the Quest 3 marketing and packaging. I hope they figure it out because previous owners know they shouldn’t need the new controllers and a price break wouldn’t go amiss.

the self-repair ability, working closely with ifixit to make repair easy on Deck, if that carries over to their next VR headset... I will be very impressed.

even if it doesn't, I am confident Valve will stand behind their product and I have 0 issues to worry about warranty wise.

 

[Octavean]

the self-repair ability, working closely with ifixit to make repair easy on Deck, if that carries over to their next VR headset... I will be very impressed.

even if it doesn't, I am confident Valve will stand behind their product and I have 0 issues to worry about warranty wise.

Good point. A VR HMD has a high probability that one if not both lenses will be damaged over time (if not cared for properly). As such a simple lens replacement kit could really save the product if effected. Even if you had to buy both lenses (as a set) to repair / replace one damaged one it could be a good way to go provided that replacement parts aren’t too prohibitively priced.

That’s just an example though. Batteries fail, solder points fail, capacitors blow, you name it. As long as you have the ability / confidence to do the work, the replacement parts are boon.

Edit:

Valve’s Steam Deck definitely got the replacement parts right. You can probably build yourself a Steam Deck from available parts if you wanted to. Likely not cost effective but you could do it.

 

[Luke357]

Valve’s Steam Deck definitely got the replacement parts right. You can probably build yourself a Steam Deck from available parts if you wanted to. Likely not cost effective but you could do it.

You can't quite build one yourself as there are a few daughterboards and things that aren't in the iFixit list but it's mostly complete.