Well shucks… I do wish I’d had a bluetooth dongle handy for day 1 but even without it I can say I’m definitely amazed at the immersion of 360 videos and I look forward to gaming on this device.
The packaging was well thought out, the build quality is excellent. I selected an HP headset from the available list of options because I wanted to evaluate that exact build. I’d heard mixed reviews but honestly I believe this is the pick of the litter when it comes to field of view… (I have a large head.)
The pros so far – excellent tracking, exceptionally clear view, unparalleled ease of setup once you understand the process. The build again is perfect for my purposes.
The cons – still no inclusion of Google Chrome but to be fair edge does a wonderful job within this device’s environment. No simple way to add a steam app within the mixed reality environment – at least nothing I saw within day 1. That is probably more of a blessing though once you realize that steam’s mixed reality VR experience is a completely different setup and deservedly so.
First impressions: I’ve been on about 25 virtual roller coasters today, been eaten by a shark, dove off cliffs in Italy and seen the edge of the stratosphere. The experiences beyond that are a blur and what a wonderful blur. I consider myself blessed to have the opportunity to evaluate this kind of hardware – even though I paid retail. I’d not only recommend the device I’d recommend the following specs to have similar experiences:
4th gen I5 or better (I’m using a Xeon quad core on a Dell Precision Workstation) Evga Nvidia 1050 ti superclocked <— probably a sensible minimum. I have 16Gb Ram and using every bit of it to sip this coffee.
Notes: Everything works great but if using a mouse – plug that into a 3.0 USB if you can spare it. I experienced significant lag on 2.0 ports even with typical name brand wireless accessories. I did discover that my tiny wireless keyboard with synaptic touch pad worked like a charm. This was fortunate as once the visor is down you need a familiar interface to navigate the onscreen keyboard when not using the controllers.
Conclusion – as we add to our repertoire of apps and games on this medium I intend to find best use cases for this affordable but luxurious alternative to the Holo Lens because it’s clearly fit for developer adoption on a much larger scale than we are currently seeing. Developers and Gamers : Don’t let this remain a Niche market – it’s a wonderful thing to have and I’m thrilled to have one. I’m imagining visual programming environments already. 😉
