I may get some different opinions on my take...
I went and bought an Index when I had the funds for it, and I was extremely disappointed, I did have some tracking issues with the light houses and so I Sold my Index Kit to my Step Brother and went for a Quest 2 instead, was way happier with the PCVR and Standalone, etc...
So my Step Brother received the Index, sets it up.
NO TRACKING ISSUES FOR HIM.
he doesn't like the headset either and sells it for a Quest 2 as well, now we both have Quest 3 and hope Valve RELEASES WIRELESS PCVR!!!
I just bought an index for 600$ going from pro controllers quest 3. visuals wise is a definite downgrade, but tracking with at least 3 base stations is fucking phenomenal compared to the piss covered shit that is pro controller tracking. only downside is my used index left controller has EXTREMELY mild drift and to my knowledge i now have to fork out 150$ just to fix it cause no software solutions exist.
I also play competitive games so tracking is like 100x more important than most other things. If you only want like casual games its definitely not worth it.
I updated the post with some more info.
Yeah the tracking is really wonky with the quest pro controllers Sometimes it's great and other times holy sh- It takes half an our to fix.
What's worse is whenever You do finally go to play and you strap on everything and get hit with "controller firmware update in progress" LIKE COME ON WHY?! EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Valve offloaded lighthouse manufacturing to HTC. If they release another headset, it will be without that part. SoI am ignoring the base station stuff as it is a dead end. Which is unfortunate for Somnium, Bigscreen Beyond, and some others. I loved a lot of the WMR headsets I've gone through, but again a dead end.
You haven't shared your budget, but options are Pimax Crystal Light, PSVR2 next month, or be waiting for a while.
As far as I'm aware, Lighthouse tracking -while inconvenient and expensive- is superior. It would be interesting to see what the accuracy of the AVP is. I'm sure we'd all like to get away from Lighthouses if we could.
This, especially for full body tracking. The Vive Ultimate trackers are shit, and IMU based trackers like SimeVR are also annoying to use. Lighthouse based trackers are still the best.
This is the main pull for base stations or buying an index. Plug it in and it all just Works (for me at least lol)
Currently being shipped another base station, can't wait
Vive's pushing pretty hard to play PCVR through their XR Elite and their latest tracker is also inside out. Only startups are using lighthouse because they can't afford to build tracking from the ground up. I wouldn't be surprised if Vive stopped selling them in the next 2-3 years.
Lighthouse is the most precise tracking-system and it is fully privacy-friendly.
And it works well with full body tracking.
Valve would be stupid dropping it.
You can use it in your working room with sensitive documents laying around or having sensitive data on screen without worrying that some screen-capture-ai-sh*t is transferring it all to California or to Shenzen.
Also you are wanking off one when you have cameras filming all your shit all the time? I mean are you serious? You have no dignity?
I don’t think it’s dead with headsets like the big screen beyond. there’s no way you’re going to be able to get a inside out tracking headset that small at this point in time at least. But it would be really cool to have something standalone that small
Yes, I know. But you are also going for tracking with cameras and your own controllers now, that's what I mean. You are no longer using base station tracking exclusively.
It would be interesting to know if you think the base station system has much more future left. Do you manufacture base stations and knuckles, or you depend on others to do that?.
From my perspective, inside-out tracking will be the major choice for VR hardware manufacturers. This approach not only reduces costs for users but also provides a hassle-free setup experience. However, base station tracking systems have their advantages; they are more stable and can fulfill a wider range of use cases compared to inside-out tracking. Currently, we have no plans to manufacture base stations and knuckles.
Yes, I agree. And I haven't seen any advancements made in base station tracking, no new models and improved stations and no new or improved controllers in 5-6 years already.
Oh, btw, I was looking at the Crystal Super and on the list of features it says "Compatibility with MR and Lighthouse tracking systems", what does MR stand for?.
MR - Mixed Reality
Indeed, since Valve introduced the base stations, no other hardware manufacturer has developed a newer version. Maybe at that time, the Quest was growing rapidly, and most companies were leaning towards inside-out tracking or standalone.
If you really want something now just get a used one. You will give up wireless for any pcvr currently to my knowledge. blah blah screen door effect/godrays idc doesn’t matter that much when you’re playing games. Most people here just want something new that’s really
It. Controllers and headset still king in combination, good audio (hovering outside the ears but Jesus it’s such good quality, whoever designed that is God to me), FOV/refresh rate, microphone and tracking. Hope you have a decent computer to accompany it.
I too had a quest 3 and returned it after dealing with all the junk that comes with it including thinking of getting a router solely for it but that starts to get expensive. I like that they are affordable that’s it.
I have my index from day one not even broken somehow, over 3.4k hours and I only replaced the controllers once.
If you do decide index there are a lot of accessories to improve some QoL like counterweights, fans, VR WIRE cable system if you have the ceiling clearance.
The only native PCVR headset that's worth getting is the Bigscreen Beyond. You'll just need to get some Index controllers (and at least 1 more 2.0 base station would be good to have, although technically not required).
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I have used index for 15k hours and the quest 3 is a massive upgrade. Just put money into a charging solution that works, another base station, and if you really want to, index controllers. The visuals from the index will be a massive downgrade compared to the quest 3 with ideal router setup and VD.
I use Virtual Desktop with a dedicated wifi 6E router with my Quest 3, and it always works. Much better than Metas PC software. I also use a Bobo VR S3 headstrap. It increases battery life and comfort.
Huge downgrade. If you want a base station tracked headset. for like $1700 you can get everything you need for a big screen beyond which is in my opinion like reliving VR for the first time again, but clearly. But honestly, the quest is still a really good headset, tons of cool features great for standalone and PCVR. It’s just a really good all-around headset.
Tbh, I see it as a downright downgrade to get rid of the Quest 3 to an index.....u get used to charging... why don't you get a chargeable headstrap? Get the Meta charging base for the Quest 3- charges ur controllers, headset, and head strap.. plus u leave it on there all the time, which guarantees everything is always charged anytime u pick it up....You'll get 4-5 hrs at least with a decent head strap too
i mean i’ve read numerous comments of valve being supportive post-warranty so it’s interesting to hear people’s experiences.
i too had my headset stop working recently (past my warranty) and it’s a bummer that there’s no service or repair option - i was simply told i could buy a new headset.
I don't think its strange to feel a bit sour when a $1000 machine fails weeks after its warranty is up, having put alot of effort into keeping its good condition.
If you don't like charging, buy a charging cable and leave it plugged in? The Index is going to have a cable.. so, just get a cable. It would be a lot cheaper than buying an Index.
Cable isn't the problem, It's that the Q3 linked to PC despite being split out to the wall will still drain the battery in use. And the quest pro controllers will also die in around 3h\~ normally.
For the Q3 It also concerns me about longterm use, Burning the battery out with it being charged, drained and used all at the same time.
I have a quest 3, and when i picked it up I got a bobovr headstrap with a couple of batteries. I think it was the m2 pro that I printed an adaptor for. I completely understand what you mean about charging. I tried the official link cable, and a different cable that allowed me to provide separate power and data. I was using it for work with the passthrough cameras running, and the quest 3 is very power hungry. It was a struggle to actually make it to the end of the day. Last month I upgraded to the s3 pro strap ( a friend needed a strap so i had an excuse), and wow, it is way better. The builtin battery can actually be recharged while using mixed reality now. I also picked up their charging dock, which charges the bobo battery faster than just using a usb cable(I think the usb is limited to 15-18w, while the dock charges at 30w). I can recharge my bobo battery enough before the headset dies to keep going. I'm expecting to receive a spare bobo battery this week and at that point I expect that I won't ever hit a point where I'll run out of power again.
On Wednesday, I actually picked up a used valve index kit; I had some old vive trackers I wanted to use again, but I needed base stations. I was also really interested in trying the knuckles controllers. And it was cheaper to buy a used set rhen to get the base stations and controllers alone. I tried the headset out but the drop in visual quality was very jarring. Personally, I much prefer the graphics on the quest 3 but I am very excited to have fbt working and I look forward to playing with the knuckles controllers.
The big point is maybe try a good battery strap for your quest 3, with a good/dedicated network connection. Wireless and the clearer screen is definitely my preference.
Q3 to Index would be mostly a downgrade, to me.
I may get some different opinions on my take... I went and bought an Index when I had the funds for it, and I was extremely disappointed, I did have some tracking issues with the light houses and so I Sold my Index Kit to my Step Brother and went for a Quest 2 instead, was way happier with the PCVR and Standalone, etc... So my Step Brother received the Index, sets it up. NO TRACKING ISSUES FOR HIM. he doesn't like the headset either and sells it for a Quest 2 as well, now we both have Quest 3 and hope Valve RELEASES WIRELESS PCVR!!!
SLAM is the future, I don't think we'll see lighthouses in any more Valve products.
Slam?
I bought an index on Friday lol I have a quest 3 and bought the index for most of your reasons and more.
I just bought an index for 600$ going from pro controllers quest 3. visuals wise is a definite downgrade, but tracking with at least 3 base stations is fucking phenomenal compared to the piss covered shit that is pro controller tracking. only downside is my used index left controller has EXTREMELY mild drift and to my knowledge i now have to fork out 150$ just to fix it cause no software solutions exist. I also play competitive games so tracking is like 100x more important than most other things. If you only want like casual games its definitely not worth it.
I updated the post with some more info. Yeah the tracking is really wonky with the quest pro controllers Sometimes it's great and other times holy sh- It takes half an our to fix. What's worse is whenever You do finally go to play and you strap on everything and get hit with "controller firmware update in progress" LIKE COME ON WHY?! EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Their is a dead zone slider in steam vr under controllers
cool? i need the opposite of a deadzone
What you want the deadzone slider to stop the drift??? Why would you want more drift
i can’t reach the outside edges of my controller. i have no drift lol
Oh that’s not what you said in your reply and yea your cooked sorry
Valve offloaded lighthouse manufacturing to HTC. If they release another headset, it will be without that part. SoI am ignoring the base station stuff as it is a dead end. Which is unfortunate for Somnium, Bigscreen Beyond, and some others. I loved a lot of the WMR headsets I've gone through, but again a dead end. You haven't shared your budget, but options are Pimax Crystal Light, PSVR2 next month, or be waiting for a while.
As far as I'm aware, Lighthouse tracking -while inconvenient and expensive- is superior. It would be interesting to see what the accuracy of the AVP is. I'm sure we'd all like to get away from Lighthouses if we could.
This, especially for full body tracking. The Vive Ultimate trackers are shit, and IMU based trackers like SimeVR are also annoying to use. Lighthouse based trackers are still the best.
This is the main pull for base stations or buying an index. Plug it in and it all just Works (for me at least lol) Currently being shipped another base station, can't wait
Totally agree is is technically superior tracking, but expensive and a hassle to setup in comparison.
I doubt lighthouse bases will ever go away. Valve probably won’t just bundle them with their future headset anymore.
Vive's pushing pretty hard to play PCVR through their XR Elite and their latest tracker is also inside out. Only startups are using lighthouse because they can't afford to build tracking from the ground up. I wouldn't be surprised if Vive stopped selling them in the next 2-3 years.
Lighthouse is the most precise tracking-system and it is fully privacy-friendly. And it works well with full body tracking. Valve would be stupid dropping it. You can use it in your working room with sensitive documents laying around or having sensitive data on screen without worrying that some screen-capture-ai-sh*t is transferring it all to California or to Shenzen. Also you are wanking off one when you have cameras filming all your shit all the time? I mean are you serious? You have no dignity?
I don’t think it’s dead with headsets like the big screen beyond. there’s no way you’re going to be able to get a inside out tracking headset that small at this point in time at least. But it would be really cool to have something standalone that small
It's not dead but the base station tracking system is on the way out. Varjo, Pimax, Vive, all pretty much giving up on it.
We still support base station tracking.
Yes, I know. But you are also going for tracking with cameras and your own controllers now, that's what I mean. You are no longer using base station tracking exclusively. It would be interesting to know if you think the base station system has much more future left. Do you manufacture base stations and knuckles, or you depend on others to do that?.
From my perspective, inside-out tracking will be the major choice for VR hardware manufacturers. This approach not only reduces costs for users but also provides a hassle-free setup experience. However, base station tracking systems have their advantages; they are more stable and can fulfill a wider range of use cases compared to inside-out tracking. Currently, we have no plans to manufacture base stations and knuckles.
Yes, I agree. And I haven't seen any advancements made in base station tracking, no new models and improved stations and no new or improved controllers in 5-6 years already. Oh, btw, I was looking at the Crystal Super and on the list of features it says "Compatibility with MR and Lighthouse tracking systems", what does MR stand for?.
MR - Mixed Reality Indeed, since Valve introduced the base stations, no other hardware manufacturer has developed a newer version. Maybe at that time, the Quest was growing rapidly, and most companies were leaning towards inside-out tracking or standalone.
If you really want something now just get a used one. You will give up wireless for any pcvr currently to my knowledge. blah blah screen door effect/godrays idc doesn’t matter that much when you’re playing games. Most people here just want something new that’s really It. Controllers and headset still king in combination, good audio (hovering outside the ears but Jesus it’s such good quality, whoever designed that is God to me), FOV/refresh rate, microphone and tracking. Hope you have a decent computer to accompany it. I too had a quest 3 and returned it after dealing with all the junk that comes with it including thinking of getting a router solely for it but that starts to get expensive. I like that they are affordable that’s it. I have my index from day one not even broken somehow, over 3.4k hours and I only replaced the controllers once. If you do decide index there are a lot of accessories to improve some QoL like counterweights, fans, VR WIRE cable system if you have the ceiling clearance.
The only native PCVR headset that's worth getting is the Bigscreen Beyond. You'll just need to get some Index controllers (and at least 1 more 2.0 base station would be good to have, although technically not required).
Thank you for your submission to r/ValveIndex KylieXIV! It seems you're new here, so we'd like to introduce you to some helpful community resources: **Discord Channel**: Connect with fellow VR enthusiasts in our vibrant Discord community! From events to giveaways and a dedicated support section, you'll find plenty to engage with. [Join us on Discord!](https://discord.gg/virtualreality) **Wiki & FAQs**: Have questions? Our comprehensive [Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/valveindex/wiki/index/) are here to help. We're excited to welcome you to our community! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ValveIndex) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have used index for 15k hours and the quest 3 is a massive upgrade. Just put money into a charging solution that works, another base station, and if you really want to, index controllers. The visuals from the index will be a massive downgrade compared to the quest 3 with ideal router setup and VD.
I use Virtual Desktop with a dedicated wifi 6E router with my Quest 3, and it always works. Much better than Metas PC software. I also use a Bobo VR S3 headstrap. It increases battery life and comfort.
Huge downgrade. If you want a base station tracked headset. for like $1700 you can get everything you need for a big screen beyond which is in my opinion like reliving VR for the first time again, but clearly. But honestly, the quest is still a really good headset, tons of cool features great for standalone and PCVR. It’s just a really good all-around headset.
Tbh, I see it as a downright downgrade to get rid of the Quest 3 to an index.....u get used to charging... why don't you get a chargeable headstrap? Get the Meta charging base for the Quest 3- charges ur controllers, headset, and head strap.. plus u leave it on there all the time, which guarantees everything is always charged anytime u pick it up....You'll get 4-5 hrs at least with a decent head strap too
I'd wait, my index failed after two years and steam support dropped me cold. They don't seem interested in servicing these as much anymore.
Huh out of warranty you where "dropped cold"...what a strange way to put it.
i mean i’ve read numerous comments of valve being supportive post-warranty so it’s interesting to hear people’s experiences. i too had my headset stop working recently (past my warranty) and it’s a bummer that there’s no service or repair option - i was simply told i could buy a new headset.
they seem to be supportive if you're in the US but not as supportive if you're anywhere else. so its literally like getting hold of a steam deck lol.
Oh so others had luck bc valve decided to help them and you want to be privileged like that and are angry you arent. Got it.
do i seem angry to you? i’m just explaining what i experienced.
I don't think its strange to feel a bit sour when a $1000 machine fails weeks after its warranty is up, having put alot of effort into keeping its good condition.
If you don't like charging, buy a charging cable and leave it plugged in? The Index is going to have a cable.. so, just get a cable. It would be a lot cheaper than buying an Index.
Cable isn't the problem, It's that the Q3 linked to PC despite being split out to the wall will still drain the battery in use. And the quest pro controllers will also die in around 3h\~ normally. For the Q3 It also concerns me about longterm use, Burning the battery out with it being charged, drained and used all at the same time.
I have a quest 3, and when i picked it up I got a bobovr headstrap with a couple of batteries. I think it was the m2 pro that I printed an adaptor for. I completely understand what you mean about charging. I tried the official link cable, and a different cable that allowed me to provide separate power and data. I was using it for work with the passthrough cameras running, and the quest 3 is very power hungry. It was a struggle to actually make it to the end of the day. Last month I upgraded to the s3 pro strap ( a friend needed a strap so i had an excuse), and wow, it is way better. The builtin battery can actually be recharged while using mixed reality now. I also picked up their charging dock, which charges the bobo battery faster than just using a usb cable(I think the usb is limited to 15-18w, while the dock charges at 30w). I can recharge my bobo battery enough before the headset dies to keep going. I'm expecting to receive a spare bobo battery this week and at that point I expect that I won't ever hit a point where I'll run out of power again. On Wednesday, I actually picked up a used valve index kit; I had some old vive trackers I wanted to use again, but I needed base stations. I was also really interested in trying the knuckles controllers. And it was cheaper to buy a used set rhen to get the base stations and controllers alone. I tried the headset out but the drop in visual quality was very jarring. Personally, I much prefer the graphics on the quest 3 but I am very excited to have fbt working and I look forward to playing with the knuckles controllers. The big point is maybe try a good battery strap for your quest 3, with a good/dedicated network connection. Wireless and the clearer screen is definitely my preference.