Basically, a Pimax Vision 8kX is the best possible headset to use ‘standalone’ to create virtual screens while traveling.
Cheap answer is probably just to search eBay, looking for anything with a miniDP port, a second HDMI port (or similar), and a GTX 1650 or better, at least a GTX 1060 Ti to be sure. For many professions doing lots of web browsing, reading, research, or video watching, this will probably give them at least one 4k VR screen.
Being a relatively expensive and high-quality bit of hardware, though, I think it makes sense to drive it with something better than a single-purpose-at-a-time smartphone/device.
Such a portable workstation could serve the needs of IT Professionals, hardware designers, and the like, who may need to examine huge codebases, browse much documentation, compile complex software, etc, suspend the machine, and continue with a Pimax Vision 8kX headset on a long plane/train trip.
For this, plenty of RAM, CPU, and extra display connectors (to create fake displays with headless ghosts), along with an internal 4k display (so as not to waste GPU limits on an akward 1080p screen, would be ideal.
However, I have to wonder if anyone else really cares about this. Most of us spend a good deal of time in one place or another, at a desk, where a full ATX PC would be cheaper and more powerful.
Ideal system requirements…
- Battery life - credible ~5hr at near idle, <20W load, close to 100Wh battery.
- CPU - Passmark score at least 13k, prefer >15k and >2.4k single-thread.
- RAM - >=32GB. Prefer 64GB.
- Graphics - Credible chance of running Virtual Desktop at ~1.6x Total SR. GTX 1650 or better.
- Internal 4k display.
- Active pen tablet. Slightly reduced performance requirements accepted for tablets.
Minimum system requirements…
- Battery life - credible ~5hr at near idle, <20W load, close to 100Wh battery.
- CPU - Passmark score at least 8kk.
- RAM - >=8GB.
- Graphics - Credible chance of running Virtual Desktop at ~1.6x Total SR. GTX 1650 or better.
Four categories emerged.
- Tablets. Few have better than Intel graphics, which AFAIK, have not been tested with Pimax headsets at all (possible VR compatibility issue).
- Desktop replacements. Surprisingly credible battery life, good features, very heavy, very expensive.
- Select workstation laptops. Many are still lacking a desirable feature, or have display outputs (eg. ThunderBolt3) which AFAIK, have not been tested with the Pimax Vision 8kX.
- Everything else on eBay with a GTX 1650 or better.
Ultimately, this suggests certain hardware needs to be tested/deveoped with the Pimax Vision 8kX.
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External graphics dock with battery. Resulting brick could be smaller than the headset itself. Compatibility with the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen4/Gen5 could be really useful with the possibility of using a real tablet among huge VR screens. Especially if Gen5 offers more RAM.
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Modifying a Yoga C940 15 to include even some kind of basic TrackStick…
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ThunderBolt3/USB-C/DisplayPort to Pimax Vision 8kX adapters. So far, AFAIK, only a miniDP adapter has been tested.
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Dedicated HDMI Capture to VR box with internal battery. This could be a ‘dumb brick’ with a minimal CPU and GTX 1650. Virtual Desktop would run offline at startup, displaying exactly what is on the HDMI inputs. In effect, a pure VR monitor adapter for arbitrary HDMI devices.
Tablets
- ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen2
i9-9880H
64GB RAM
Excellent performance and portability.
Off-the-shelf first choice. Appears to have MiniDP port and 4k internal display. Some versions may support a pen - https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/9pq5s3/thinkpad_x1_extreme_pen_support/ .
- ThinkPad X1 Tablet Gen 3, ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen4, Thinkpad X1 Yoga Gen5 (Coming soon)
Always worth a mention. Seems likely to remain Intel Integrated Graphics only. Would be interesting to know if these have any chance of working with Pimax headsets.
- Yoga C940 15
Internal 4k Display.
i9-9880H CPU, 16GB RAM
Lenovo abandoned their best selling point omitting Gen4 TrackPoint! Consequently, there is no reason to favor this product over competitors.
Excellent performance for a tablet. More RAM would have been reasonable.
Display outputs are USBC/Thunderbolt3. Whether any adapters work with Pimax Vision 8kX remains to be tested.
- Dell XPS 15 2-in-1
Internal 4k Display
i7-8705G, 16GB RAM
Weaker processor option. More RAM desirable. Interesting choice of Intel/AMD APUs available. Claims up to 15 hour battery life, though this may depend on CPU choice.
Display outputs are USBC/Thunderbolt3. Whether any adapters work with Pimax Vision 8kX remains to be tested.
Desktop Replacements
- MSI GT76 Titan DT
Excellent performance, appears to have DisplayPort, HDMI, ThunderBolt3, and 4k internal display.
Overclockable 5GHz CPU might allow flight sims to run at full 1.5x Total SR with the Pimax Vision 8kX. Games like Elite Dangerous would likely suffer from probably a bit less thermal/overclocking capability from the GPU.
Over an inch thick, about 2-3x heavier than most laptops.
At idle, battery life may be decent. Overclocked at full load… this machine seems to need two AC power supplies.
For most use cases, a purpose-built desktop machine will be cheaper, and achieve substantially better visual quality.
Workstation Laptops
- P73 ThinkPad
Up to i9-9880H, 128GB RAM, Quadro RTX 4000 8GB
Outstanding performance. Excellent battery capacity, highest credible performance/runtime tradeoffs available.
Extra RAM is much appreciated.
Needs testing to confirm compatibility with Pimax Vision 8kX.
Thunderbolt/USB-C DisplayPort Only (No MiniDP)
- Razer Blade 15
Creator’s version offers a decent quantity of RAM, at 64GB, though it is very expensive, and there is no alternative with more than 16GB.
Internal 4k display, apparent miniDP and apparent HDMI. Convenient for Virtual Desktop use case.
Others
- HP OMEN 17t
Questionable battery life.
- GS75 Stealth 9SF
Weak 1080p display.
- … lots of other matchines
_
To be clear, this is about using VR hardware to create virtual screens. I do not expect any laptop to be a good choice for high-resolution gaming for simulation in the near future.
EDIT: The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 apparently has active pen support. This probably makes it the strongest possible choice, if it holds up to some testing.