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Feeling a little ripped off by HTC (rant)


Kebal

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Ok so i've been a fairly early adopter of VR and bough not one but 2 HTC vive original headsets over the years.
Last year I was looking to upgrade and got won over by the promise of a module headset that I wont have to replace again, just buying modules to change features and bought the cosmos.

The cosmos elite comes out and its shipped with the older 1.0 base units and controllers for some crazy reason? the technology was replaced already so send the updated units its expected by people buying VR.

Having seen the pricing today I am feeling a little bit betrayed by HTC now.

I was won over to buy another HTC headset (the cosmos) because of the promise of the module system saving money in the long run, by changing or adding features without needing to buy a new headset.
The new lighthouse tracking faceplate gets released and to replace my aging htc vive original I would need to buy 2 controllers, 2 base stations and the faceplate for €219.

The cosmos inside out tracking is horrifically bad, the worst I have ever witnessed (including from some phone devices).

Ok not a problem until you realize the base station 1.0 are permanently out of stock so you have to buy the 2.0, which also means the more expensive (for some unknown reason, is blue plastic more expensive to make?) 2018 controllers.
2x2.0 base stations + 2x 2018 controllers (the original ones dont work with the 2.0 base stations???) then the faceplate.

Its almost as much as buying the full headset bundle again, rending my initial purchase mute and a pointless waste of money.

I am now seriously considering purchasing the valve index and never looking back at HTC again, if it wasnt for the 8 week delivery delay I already would have.

I dont normally post stuff like this but these arent cheap and HTC have essentially lied and mislead my purchase, leaving me very unhappy with the company. It took so long to release the faceplate to confirm this that I doubt I could return the cosmos I had purchased and given the poor reviews I doubt I could sell it either. Its looking more like a paper weight day by day.


Some added things:
My existing setup would be going to a family member when it gets replaced so re using the current 1.0 base stations and controllers isnt a valid option. plus the base stations will probably need replaced soon as they are really starting to audibly hum.
I could buy another original htc vive bundle (still cheaper than the base units and controllers) only they are also permanently out of stock.

Edited by Kebal
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  • 2 weeks later...

I feel you. I really wanted the Valve Index but it was near impossible to get one outside the US and the only other "latest model" VR headset available in my country was the Cosmos. Since it was readily available in my country (not surprising due to the bad reviews) I really wanted to like it but I read online that despite many firmware updates through the months, the tracking issues persisted. The fact that HTC came up with the Cosmos Elite was obviously an acknowledgement that the base Comos' tracking issues could not be resolved via software but needed a hardware implemention. So when you say you feel ripped off I know where you are coming from. To their credit, HTC giving their user base the wireless option was a big bonus, especially when you are comparing what the other VR manufacturers can and cannot offer. But the price of the wireless adapter (+ the attachment kit) for my VivePro was wallet crunching and yes I do feel ripped off because that is on top of the high price HTC was already asking for the VivePro. (Although I do acknowledge that transferring huge amount of data wirelessly would require expensive high-tech hardware). But the benefits of wireless is indeed a game changer, and for that none of the competitors could compete. For now. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Must admit I feel similar @Kebal - I'm not rich!

I think HTC are asking too much money. It's one thing selling the Cosmos for $700, but the face plate costs $199 - £199! Not even any exchange difference here in the UK!

But hey, being able to upgrade for Just £200 would be great, but another £250 for controllers  and another £250 for base stations. That's another £700 HTC!

If you're going to sell the main product for so much, accessories need to be less - way less.

How about offering us a recycling scheme - we exchange our face plates and controllers for MUCH MORE REASONABLY priced upgrades. After all, our old equipment will be USELESS to us. YOU create a market for refurbished parts which will stimulate your sales and the accessories market.

If you don't do something about cost, you're going to lose out. You did this with your phones and now you're doing it with Vive.

I'm enjoying my cosmos - though I have a loud fan AND the tracking STILL isn't quite right. I'm more likely to sell this and buy a new Vive kit - it would cost me less.

Edited by CrakeJ
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  • 8 months later...

@HTCSCAMMEDUS - Minecraft bedrock is broken for all VR headsets due to updates Mojang introduced in 1.16.200 and .201 released in early Dec 2020. It's not specific to Vive - that update broke VR full stop and is related to them changing their runtime to OpenXR. Switching to another headset won't fix it at this moment as the problem is with Minecraft bedrock itself. Only Mojang can patch this as the problem is with the 1.16.200 and .201 versions of bedrock.

Vive has nothing to do with this - the bug is within the bedrock client itself. It affects Vive, Oculus, Index, Quest Link, Windows Mixed Reality - VR is broken for everyone full stop.

Here's the bug report they're consolidating this issue to (115 comments): https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MCPE-16946?jql=text ~ "VR"

There are several dozen open bug tickets on Mojang's tracker: https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MCPE-32178?jql=text ~ "VR" 

@HTCSCAMMEDUS I am a bedrock player myself and haven't touched my server since this update broke everything. I understand your frustration but we just need to wait for Mojang to patch

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