So, anyone Pre-Order some Valve Index gear? Have the Vive headset so I'm dipping my toes with the Valve Index (AKA Knuckles) controller. Noticed that there wasn't a charge for shipping following checkout on the Steam Store! Is this a charge that follows closer to shipping perhaps?
Agreed. I wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for some surplus gift cards I can put to work on the Steam Store! Actually looking forward to literally trying my hands in VR with the Index controllers and Boneworks. Still waiting for some hands on review videos of the Index HMD itself. Just to get an idea of how it all physically works to fill in a few knowledge black holes. As one example, I'm still not sure how the VirtualLink™ USB-C Adapter fits the Index HMD... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1072830/VirtualLink_USBC_Adapter_for_Valve_Index_Headset/
Just got an e-mail to confirm postal address for the Valve Index Controllers. Still no indication of a P+P charge though!
Just found this nugget... https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7077-YUOA-2321 Turns out shipping on all Valve Index hardware is free, which is nice!
Had the e-mail confirmations today that my Valve Index controllers and 2.0 Base Stations x2 are being shipped! Placed a Reservation for the Valve Index HMD just waiting in the line before I can pull the trigger on a pre-order. Still no takers on Bit-Tech?
Delivered today, a day before the release day proper! Lovely looking packages, be nice to put on display. Feels special to finally get my hands on the Valve Index Controllers AKA Knuckles. Been following the iterative process for the development of these controllers over the months/year(s). They are very very light! Be easy to forget they're clasped to your hands once in VR. The padding material for the clasp feels very comfortable to the touch. Looking forward to taking them for a spin in VR!
Have you already ordered? I believe any orders after 4th May will hit the end of September shipping slot. Demand utterly smashed hardware production! I've only been able to register interest in a pre-order. Think the earliest would be end of October for the next batch of orders shipped. You need to click that 'Reserve Yours' button on the hardware page though otherwise you're not in line to place an order! Valve are being careful to avoid excess inventory by ramping up production to meet demand. I'm going to end up with everything arriving before the headset! VirtualLink™ USB-C Adapter next!
I got mine a few weeks ago but was in the middle of a bathroom renovation where I had no functioning toilet in my house for three weeks. Toilet problem solved, I finally set up the Index yesterday. I've had a Vive since launch and have enjoyed it very much. Why did I decide to upgrade? The controllers. I'm assuming that Valve will release some real VR game within the next year. And while I'm sure they'll make it compatible with all the HMD's currently on the market, my guess is that the Index Controllers will be the best experience. From a few hours of playing around, I can say that they are great. There have been widespread reports of the controllers (particularly the joysticks) having problems that Valve is refusing to acknowledge. The audio. The off-ear design is pretty amazing and the spacial audio I've experienced is by far the best I've had in VR. I've tried the Vive, Vive Pro, Samsung Odyssey, the Rift and some commercial systems both for entertainment and productivity. These are easily the best. The FOV. Original Vive had a "snorkel mask" experience to it. The Index' lenses sit right in front of my eyeballs. There's a very slight shadow in the bottom right and left corners of my vision, but that's it. There's still room for improvement (such as being able to move my eyes all around and not see edges), but this is a huge improvement. The refresh rate. 144hz is really awesome. Valve said that 90hz was the minimum to keep all but the smallest minority from getting sick. 144hz makes VR very comfortable and much more immersive. I can tell I'm having less fatigue. And if you're wondering, yes, I could really tell. It felt like there was no improvement and I was disappointed until I opened up the settings and realized I was still operating at 90hz. The resolution. The industry will still be in a resolution vs. refresh rate balance for a long time to come. While it's 1440x1600 per eye, it's full stripe RGB, meaning there's more sub-pixels and I think it makes a difference in clarity. Finally, I can sell my Vive to offset the cost of the Index. If you aren't already into VR, I think the price is right, but only if you have a killer app or two you know you'll sink some time into and beefy hardware to run it. If you aren't sure, then I'd buy a used Vive or Rift, or get one of the heavily discounted Windows Mixed-reality headsets that often show up for ~$2-300 discounted. As an aside, I was running my Vive from an i7 2700 and 1050ti in my home theater computer. It's very possible to run VR from lower-end hardware. If you're on a budget and thinking that you need a new GPU and then you'll have to save your pennies again for a VR HMD, I'd strongly suggest just picking up a cheaper HMD and going for it to see if you like it and want to upgrade your GPU later. You'll probably be surprised what your PC can run in VR.
Forgotten how difficult Vive/Valve gear can be to setup! After taking about 30 minutes to update the Vive Wands it took another hour to get the Valve Index Controllers to track! Left hand would track but the right hand would only track when plugged in via USB-C. Then the problem switched from right to left hand controller and after 10 attempts to pair the controllers it's finally working! Anyways... the controller is very impressive but not as intuitive as gameplay videos would lead you to believe. Takes a little training to understand how the grip works in VR. Aperture Hand Lab does a great job in this regard. Especially like the wrist display that rises and falls according to grip strength. Manipulating a desk lamp was a highlight. It's a great tease for things to come with my eye firmly set on Boneworks.
Moondust is also a fun demo to try. I'm really looking forward to Boneworks and whatever unannounced Half-life thing Valve hopefully actually releases this year or next.
Good news is I can now order the Valve Index Headset, bad news as below... Think I'm the first to report this on the interweb! Does this mean Valve are abandoning the VirtualLink that they helped create? Was rather looking forward to the simplicity of single cable VR.
Just throwing the question out there... Has anyone attempted to extend the cable for the Valve Index? Considering getting a really long Display Port and Active USB 3.0 cable. So the PC can sit where it is making it easy to dip into VR in a separate room! Snaking about 10 metres for each cable would make it comfortably into the next room.
im seeing online that people that do extend it get image and connection issues. I think they make it as long as possible out the box. Anyways, im not a index owner but after HF Alyx ill be jumping in, probably around April which will be my 30th birthday.
After selling all my CSGO skins for valve cash I managed to get enough to buy the full package a couple of weeks back. When you go to purchase the index with steam money it will not let you unless you phone them and they authorise your account. Have only had enough time to play if for a couple of hours, the rest of the time my son has been trying to use it.
This makes sense but also seems a little annoying. I can imagine bot networks farming stickers and other crap from free-to-play games and then selling them on the marketplace. I can also think of people getting hacked and then having a very expensive real-world item shipped off somewhere else with no real way of recovering the item or value. So they make you confirm you're a real person. I can relate to the kid thing. My son will play for 1/2hr or more, tell me I should play "games x, y, z" because they're "so fun" and then I only have time to play after people go to bed, and only if my wife doesn't want to watch a show together.
