My Xtal has finally shipped!

Will be sharing lots

Seconded Lucky guy, it astonishes me that some come on and (try) to pour cold water on your choice for whatever reason (some of which are so wrong it's funny)

 

Should you choose to share some of your findings I'd appreciate it but either way enjoy

Hey Weegie,

My plan was always to share as much info about it as I can. That's why I posted the fact that my Xtal shipped. I wanted people to know I will be sharing that info and to give everybody a chance to weigh in on things they would like to see. Like through the lens pictures for example.

Stef

There is nothing wrong with spending money for a hobby. Myself I have spent tenthousands of bucks for flight sims in the last 35 years.

Every user of the MS Flight Simulator remembers the "new version, new hardware" cycle.

However, I personally wouldn't spend that amount of money for the Xtal. It's ten times the price of a Reverb or Rift S for "how much more fun"?

But that's only me, of course. Have a lot of fun with that device and please let us know how it works.

To each his own...

I've never tried an XTAL, I did receive a demo of a VR-1 earlier this year, though I didn't get to try their flight sim demo. IIRC XTAL is slightly less vertical resolution but huge FOV right?

Anyway, as I said, I haven't tried it. I was floored by the VR-1 however. The resolution is the same as the index for the main screen, but there is another panel that's extremely high res. I don't recall the number, but they referred to it as human eye resolution... its thousands of DPI, which somehow is able to move with your eye via eye tracking (this wasn't perfect, it worked better if you moved your head). Anyway, it was pretty unreal - I mean, I don't know how to quantify "How much" better it was, but it's fair to say that its damn close to human eye level.

This was before rift s, index, reverb, etc were announced. They won't sell them to consumers (they actually do a yearly licensing thing or you can buy it outright). I concocted an elaborate line of BS on how I was going to incorporate it into my business. I do beginner aerobatics training (err... stall and spin recovery training in case my insurance is reading this), and argued that sim time before actual unusual attitude training... anyway, i'm rambling. The point is I was ****ing impressed and wanted one. Stupid expensive, but i've worked hard right? Eventually came to my senses, probably good as I have no idea how I would have run it, and i was concerned about compatibility (its supposed to be fine in unity/unreal, DCS as we all know is different).

Anyway - congrats man. I am jealous, i eventually talked myself out of it but you friggin dropped 5k on a HMD! I hope it turns out to be everything you hope it is! Pay no mind to the negative, we all spend money on stupid shit... its just a question of what your particular vice is. I own a money pit airplane that is the most impractical thing ever built. Some guys like cars or boats, other strippers and cocaine. To each their own

btw - why the xtal over a VR-1 or one of the other pro level HMDs? Not suggesting one over the other, I honestly don't know all the differences

btw - why the xtal over a VR-1 or one of the other pro level HMDs? Not suggesting one over the other, I honestly don't know all the differences

Honestly I didn't have any reviews to rely on for the VR-1. Plus, like you said, it's not available to consumers. So the Xtal it was.

Stef

I've never tried an XTAL, I did receive a demo of a VR-1 earlier this year, though I didn't get to try their flight sim demo. IIRC XTAL is slightly less vertical resolution but huge FOV right?

 

Anyway, as I said, I haven't tried it. I was floored by the VR-1 however. The resolution is the same as the index for the main screen, but there is another panel that's extremely high res. I don't recall the number, but they referred to it as human eye resolution... its thousands of DPI, which somehow is able to move with your eye via eye tracking (this wasn't perfect, it worked better if you moved your head). Anyway, it was pretty unreal - I mean, I don't know how to quantify "How much" better it was, but it's fair to say that its damn close to human eye level.

 

This was before rift s, index, reverb, etc were announced. They won't sell them to consumers (they actually do a yearly licensing thing or you can buy it outright). I concocted an elaborate line of BS on how I was going to incorporate it into my business. I do beginner aerobatics training (err... stall and spin recovery training in case my insurance is reading this), and argued that sim time before actual unusual attitude training... anyway, i'm rambling. The point is I was ****ing impressed and wanted one. Stupid expensive, but i've worked hard right? Eventually came to my senses, probably good as I have no idea how I would have run it, and i was concerned about compatibility (its supposed to be fine in unity/unreal, DCS as we all know is different).

 

Anyway - congrats man. I am jealous, i eventually talked myself out of it but you friggin dropped 5k on a HMD! I hope it turns out to be everything you hope it is! Pay no mind to the negative, we all spend money on stupid shit... its just a question of what your particular vice is. I own a money pit airplane that is the most impractical thing ever built. Some guys like cars or boats, other strippers and cocaine. To each their own

 

btw - why the xtal over a VR-1 or one of the other pro level HMDs? Not suggesting one over the other, I honestly don't know all the differences

I'm very impressed from what I've read about the VR-1. And really in both the case of the Xtal and the VR-1 it goes to show that the cutting edge hardware can do today. And tomorrow it will trickle down to us poor plebs that are only able/willing to pay for lower cost solutions.

I actually wish HP had spent a bit more time/money on making the Reverb with adjustable IPD and better optics, even at say 2x its current price point. I actually find the fact there isn't a more graduated market in VR rather interesting. You basically have the gamer level stuff at the bottom of the market (Rift/Reverb etc). And some Gamer+ level stuff (vive/pro/index), which often doesn't actually work much better (usually only in very specific ways). But then its a huge leap cost wise to something like the Xtal or Vr-1.