Which Accessories are Best for my HTC VIVE?

[OliverJackson]

I recently, (as a gift to myself) got the HTC Vive VR Headset. It's already tons of fun, and I love it. But thats besides the point. I know that there are a few key things missing that would improve the user experience, however I am still a noob on this topic. Does anybody have a list of the best accessories for the HTC Vive? That would be awesome. Thanks for your support!

[OliverJackson]

I am also looking for a beefy computer that can easily run this, however is not too expensive.

Edited April 4, 2020 by OliverJackson

[Veggies]

Good question: I have had my HTC Vive for a while now, and I have my whole setup complete. (keep in mind that all of these accessories are not required, so don't feel obliged to buy them just to play in VR. Anyway, here are a couple of the things that I would recommend:

Deluxe Vive Audio Strap

This add-on allows you to hear VR audio and also have a nice, snug fit for your headset. It’s definitely worth it.

 

Alienware M15 Gaming Laptop

Not just any Windows PC will run your VR system well. You’ll need the power of a gaming machine. This Dell Alienware gaming laptop is the right mix of cost (not too expensive) and power (plenty of power to run VR). A powerful computer is crucial for a smooth and high def gaming experience, since the VR headset and software will run from the computer. In my opinion, it’s good to get a notebook instead of a desktop so that your VR setup is portable. However, a notebook is not easy to upgrade, so you might need to upgrade your notebook after a few years.

If you prefer another brand of computer, here are the minimum specs I recommend to give you a bit of future proofing, and also will be able to support your own VR creations, if you decide to start building your own VR scenes:

• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 or better
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7820 or better
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Video out: HDMI 1.4 for the Vive, plus a second video out for an external display
• USB ports: 2x USB 2.0 port

I recommend the Alienware M15 Gaming Laptop Intel i7-8750H (2.2-4.1 Ghz on 6 cores). This machine meets or exceeds these requirements with a 15.6″ LCD, 16GB RAM, 512 GB PCIe M.2 SSD storage, NVIDIA GEForce RTX 2060 graphics card with 6GB.

 Lighthouse Mount Stand Kit

These stands are for mounting the light houses (sensors for HTC) without drilling wholes into your walls.

Leather VR Face Cushion

These leather cushions provide nice padding, important for a pleasant VR experience. The cushions will wear out after a while and also become dirty after several people use the headset for a while.

I found an article with more useful items and links to buy them here: https://grantreviews.blog/2019/04/21/htc-vive-equipment/ and I strongly recommend that you check them out. 

[JohnyDL]

I hear that the Valve controllers are the best and should be compatable with anything using lighthouses

As for a PC You might be okay building your own with last years parts. but building a PC for a VR experience you probably want to spend about the same amount on the PC as the headset. 

And given the current global *situation* extra face cushions are a must have if you plan to share your vive. 

[HackPerception]

Deluxe audio strap and knuckles are the accessories that will impact your UX the most. DAS is really clutch for ergonomics.

We heavily use the SmallRig clamps internally for basestations and I use these as well as a larger one for the stations in my rental property.

For the face cushions, we use VRCover PLU replacements on every single one of our shared headsets demo stations (although moving forward, shared headsets is probably a thing of the past internally considering the current circumstance)

[HackPerception]

@OliverJackson Per content, some of my personal favorites are HL: Alxy, Google EarthVR, Wave beta, Beat Saber, Walking Dead Saints and Sinners, Boneworks, Museum of Other Realities, SuperhotVR, Welcome to LightFields, and Audio Trip. Oh and Ayahuasca Kosmic Trip - that one is special. That's a good few hundred hours of content - some of that will be available via Viveport Infinity and Google Earth VR is somehow free.

[JohnyDL]

I completely didn't think about games as accessories but yeah I brought the cosmos elite mainly for beat saber which is lots of fun (though most of the custom levels seem to not bother with "newbie" modes) and tilt brush which I like but I wouldn't necessarily recommend (I should have waited to try it on VP:Infinity) I'm still talking to customer services to get my HL Alyx and VP:infinity set up (I screwed up they're really helpful) so I'm for the most part making do with the games I already own and the things I can get free.

Vivecraft is a rather unique experience if you already own Minecraft Java Edition takes a bit of getting used to and I had some vertigo here and there from the none teleport movement method, but I got used to it quickly and The Lab from Steam has become my go to start up program to get into the VR space, I love the archery range even if it doesn't quite match the real thing (I'm really struggling to dial in my aim, though I'm getting better).

There are a few 'free' movie theatre apps (like CineVR) that I've given a quick look nothing that'll let me connect to streaming services like amazon video. netflix or even youtube it'd be cool to have a virtual cinema trip with friends right now but there's no point when there's nothing to watch without IAPs and extremely limited selections.

And talking of things that it'd be really cool to have if they existed, micro trackers (one sensor and the smallest amount of electronics possible) that you could stick to your keyboard or mouse or chair to find them without taking off the headset, I can touchtype fine but knowing where my keyboard is after a few spins, not happening. There's no orientation to worry about so long as I can put my hand anywhere on these things I can feel around them (or more likely would know their orientation by instinct). They could show their locations like how the lighthouses show themselves when you're in the in between space changing games. *shrug*

I'm definitely adding LightFeilds and Google Earth to my to do since they're both free on steam.

[SanityGaming]

Deluxe headstrap, full body tracking, vibration suit, 

Edited April 5, 2020 by SanityGaming

[SanityGaming]

20 hours ago, Veggies said:

Alienware M15 Gaming Laptop

 

If you want to get scammed and advertise a scam product like alienware, go to a troll website... like reddit., Alienware is just a sham and advertising for the ignorant.. it's like trying to compare 2 silver spoons, ones 100£ the others 50£ both do the same thing, just ones cheaper... alienware is the 100$...

MSI, Gigabyte, e.t.c Will give you more performance for the money.. and more stuff.. better to.

I asked Alienware to do a price match with a PC, they knocked around 780£ of the alienware PC... Not only does alienware use OEM computer parts like (gpu, motherboard, cpu) but they use the cheapest off the line made parts..  most of it's unbranded and just bad... 

Edited April 5, 2020 by SanityGaming

[JohnyDL]

Sanity while I wouldn't myself recommend the Alienware brand (I generally wouldn't recommend any laptop that's branded as "gaming") Alienware hasn't been that much outside the price to performance curve on their laptops, desktops maybe but not on laptops. That said going prebuilt does come with a few perks over building your own, they're preconfigured, guaranteed to work out of the box and have a decent amount of warranty and customer service.

You may have had a bad experience, the people I know who've had them have had mixed reviews too some hyping them others not. But I don't see that as a reason to call another user a troll for trying to help.

My personal experience with Dells tends to come from the optiplex lineup and I can vouch for those as I've seen them treated really badly and the unbranded OEM hardware putting up with more abuse than what I've seen branded hardware handle. I'd assume that Dell would bin parts so that the highest rated ones end up in Alienware machines rather than the office ones in order to maximise profits and reputation.

Had you read what they said they offered minimum specs for a VR capable laptop and made one specific recommendation... do you disagree with the minimum specs offered? I don't, though I might suggest that AMD has some interesting competition coming out right now and it could be worth waiting 6 months to buy a laptop if you're not in the market immediately. And do you have any specific recommendations? Do you actually own that recommendation and can recommend it from experience?

As for Pricing The Alienware Laptop that was recommended (M15 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-9750H Windows 10 Home NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 6GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) 16GB DDR4 2666MHz) is $1700 from Dell's website
Equivalent MSI Laptop seems to be the GE65 Raider priced at $1800 on new egg (and only the upgraded 2070 version for $2500 is on Amazon right now)
Equivalent Gigabyte Laptop seems to be the GIGABYTE AERO 17 which is $2000 on new egg (WA-7US1130SO) and $1950 on Amazon (XA-7US1130SO)