It was Pimax that released a YT video in 2021 announcing the 12k. It was the Pimax COO that went on MRTV bragging about the specs. It was Pimax that booked CES2022 then didn’t show up. It was Pimax who announced the Q3 Crystal release date then didn’t deliver. It’s ultimately Pimax who creates all this expectation then disappoint which leads to frustration. 7 years and the same faces saying the same things. Rainbows and unicorns.
Varjo, Valve, Apple, Meta HP, never disappoint so don’t get the grief it’s as simple as that.
Not so sure we can blame Meta for the not so great state of VR hardware. If they had stayed out and no other big company had acquired Oculus, would we really have better VR hardware? Wouldn‘t it just be an even more scattered landscape and the lack of software even more evident? I fear we need to wait until VR is more accessible & convenient when used to get mainstream traction. When that has been achieved I expect more competition to come up, and there will be fair number of users interested in moving away from Meta to protect their data.
I don‘t see any kind of ideal approach which would have made us be in a much better place.
What you described is exactly what Sargon was talking about. Poor messaging. Their biggest issue is putting out announcements that are too early and too optimistic on timelines for everything. It’s not so much the product releases themselves, because a lot of people really like their products when they eventually come out, it’s the horrible inability to accurately give delivery dates on anything.
They had multiple delays with the G2 and even shipped to new customers sooner than pre-orders.
The other companies I agree, they had no significant delays from announced launch dates. (they have all had delays, the difference is just that they didn’t announce a date until they were sure).
This one of two, no three, key issues I see with Pimax:
Premature release announcements being missed time and again, even if just two fracking weeks into the future.
Over-zealous decision-making in the definition phase of new headsets (carelessly trying to include all specs the VR community is excited about with little consideration of feasibility).
No.1 & 2 resulting in delayed release of incomplete and partially underperforming (measured against their specs) headsets.
Ha! Yes it is. Sometimes I think our real hobby is more speculation than actualization. And, as some clever chap noted once upon a time- after all is said and done, a lot more has been said than done.
Honest to god, it’s shocking haha. But at the same time we are just killing time until the actual launch and checking in etc. It is funny though!
@PimaxUSA Is it safe to say that the 200 in Jan deadline has been missed with CNY this weekend? They wouldn’t arrive by now in normal times I suppose, let alone the new year. Not complaining just looking for confirmation so I can stop frantically checking each morning for a payment request for my Crystal pre-order lol.
Believe me. I’d LOVE to purchase the Crystal, IF:
It’s working properly with all the features advertised and compatibility where its software doesn’t present any limitations.
So far, the unit just isn’t completely finished, we don’t really have any reliable timeline when it will be, and we do not have enough independent reviews out there to increase my degree of confidence in the product to buy it yet.
If I were to put down the money now on the product, I’d be purchasing on faith alone.
I’m not that type of person.
Marketing videos where virtually 100% of the people say the Crystal is awesome at a CES event isn’t enough to convince me.
Sorry guys, I know you are all eager to get the headset which may even perform 60-70% of the features having been advertized - for the absolute bargain price of only 1,600$ + taxes, (without addons)!
It’s a steal!
@VRGIMP27: no, unlikely to get me the Crystal - too expensive for the upgrade over my G2. High end VR headsets are usually utilized only 2-3 years before replacement, Crystal potentially less due to not going pancake lenses. Might consider the 12K as it offers a unique FoV likely not being competed with by newer headsets anytime soon.
If offered at 500$ I would probably get me a Crystal - just as I would own an Aero, etc… To me the price matters.
That’s why over the past say 24 months I rather invested my money into other gaming hardware, got a Yaw 2, added a Fanatec DD CSL steering wheel & V3 pedals, SRS blowers, plus a Fulcrum yoke. Just got me a new 4090/13900 PC and ordered the SRS U Shake6; and I am considering if adding the belt tensioner supported by & sold via SRS makes sense too.
So I am prepared to spend silly amounts for VR gaming - the big difference here is, if I spend 2 grand for that kind of hardware, I know I will still be using it in 5 years; I assume the Crystal would end up on the shelf in about 2 years at latest and from there on not contribute anything to my experience anymore while all of this other hardware incrementally increases the experience as it is not replaced any time soon.
Crystal currently runs on the 8kX cable which does not supply enough power, which is why at CES2023 Kevin said the battery was being drained over 3 hours.
Marcin said last night Pimax are still working on the final Crystal cable.
So how are Pimax going to ship the Crystal without the final cable after Chinese New Year if the cable is still not ready?
Two options.
Ship Crystal with the 8kX and use the battery as if was stand-alone. Weird for PCVR
Or, add a power adapter to the 8kX cable and power externally. But why did they not do this at CES2023?
I feel the same way. It’s why I have no doubt moving up to an 8KX or Crystal would yield greater visuals but running a 5K+ at 1.5 render on my meager gen 6 Intel oc’d to 4.5 with a 3080 has been quite sufficient to might needs.
I doubt I would see $2200 CAD of increased value given the obsolescence you mentioned.
I too have invested in many peripherals over the years and can say almost all are still functional today, if not somewhat obsolete like my original gameport versions of CH HOTAS and rudders and a couple of early joysticks.
I was also able to grab a 2nd Logitech MOMO wheel for $40 bucks and figured it would be a good spare. The org is still in use and the spare has only be used once to test and has sat a the ready ever since. Given I race every week, that what I call well made.
I will say that nearing 5 years on the 5K+ has been great and it’s still ticking. Folks can complain about Pimax’s quality with some justification, but all in all I’m getting my monies worth. THX PIMAX
So you didn’t review the Article on pancake lense design and the 15% or less light transmission efficiency?
Now that being said with the swappable lenses concept does allow them to release a lense upgrade at a later date when there might be improvements to lense designs.
However for WFoV junkied the Crystal is not likely to be very appealing.
Or if they haven’t tried it. Do like the copper 8kX cable with an additional usb fir extra power. You can buy these types of Extra power usb cables that has a usb3 with additional usb2 for only power. That being said maybe label the extra power usb and make it a usb3 to increase available amps. then recommend a wall usb3 power adapter with x amps.
@PimaxUSA do you know if the team has evaluated this idea?
I actually don’t understand why Pimax is allergic to just using wall power like the Index does. Taking up one or more additional USB ports to try to get enough power is not better, in my opinion. Especially when operating under USB power limits causes limitations for the headset. And there are a host of reliability and compatibility issues caused by trying to run off of USB power in general that Pimax headsets run into that they just wouldn’t if they ran off of simple wall power.
The only reason I can think of to avoid using wall power is to enable running off of laptops on battery. But Pimax hasn’t really been supporting running from laptops anyway. And I don’t see this realistically changing for the Reality series. Their standalone mode is their answer to mobility.
So what is the point of trying to run off of USB power alone? It just seems like there are multiple downsides to this and only one maybe two vague upsides at best.
