You can only use 1 faceplate at a time so a true sim edition really only needs one regular or LH faceplate. They could offer a LH edition and loose the other faceplate and shave the price more.
BSB or Varjo still more compelling price for LH users and they had no problem sticking that LH chip inside.
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what happened to the brightness sliders it cant be lowered anymore
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Karl Gosling tried to get his Crystal perform DFR - apparently it wasnât a seamless experience:
I am sure the picture quality is great. But I donât have the nerve anymore to have to troubleshoot as much as Pimax products clearly demand.
I am looking forward to the Quest 3 now, and will keep an eye on the Deckard, Aero 2, Pico 5 Pro Max and what have you, but until then I will enjoy the simplicity of a headset which generally just does what it is supposed to do, with no extra fiddling around every time you switch it on.
I think he is doing something wrong or he has other problems with the config of his PC.
I donât agree with his negative attitude.
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Well, if he was the only one. Remember DiscoVR reporting how it was the most difficult experience she had to get a headset working? And these are users who are pretty invested in getting these devices to work.
If you are happy to tinker with it, fine. And I get it that some folks here consider this to be part of the deal if you decide to purchase a Pimax headset. But imho it is not okay to advertize the product just like the regular, more or less well rounded commercial device to unsuspecting customers not familiar with Pimax if it doesnât meet certain minimum standards.
Thatâs why a fair number of VR users and VR influencers only roll their eyes when they hear Pimax and have lost most of their initial interest in even trying Pimax headsets. Look at Norm from Tested - he seemed to not even really be interested in giving the Crystal a proper shot, although he comes across as a true enthusiast to me. There is a reason for this fatigue, and imho itâs not that the guys & gals are all mean and biased for no good reason.
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That DiscoVR review was with the first beta software release, when they still not shipping to all the customers, so itâs normal to have bugs and issues.
With the lastest public release (and even with the prior), my experience was always Plug & Play. The only issue is the room calibration (center and floor), which must be done every time you turn on the headset, but thatâs 1 min.
Of course the SW is not bug free (they broke the Smart Smoothing with the lastest for example), but the experience is far far better than with the old PiTool (at least with the cable connected directly to the PC, no hub).
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But is a 50:50 chance (or 70:30 or whatever the average so far is) that the product combines well with your PC good enough?
And running the risk with every new firmware release that it breaks something big time isnât what the average customer expects. They expect a more thorough quality assurance, even at the price of slower innovation. If Pimax separated experimental firmware updates (with a fat âUse at your own risk!!!â label) next to more conservative but safe regular updates, cool. But they donât do that, thereâs no real difference if it is beta or final, both screw up every now and then.
Again, if Pimax used a different marketing approach, it would actually be okay because the customer would be aware that this is an experimental device in early access. Itâs just the blatant claim that their product is ready for launch featuring A,B,C and when it arrives, itâs missing some of these features and a gamble if it works plug ân play or rather swear & tear which makes this so annoying, and frustrates many who generally are very positive towards VR and want to see bold innovation. Just not too fast, too scrappy.
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I mean. Karl (video above) doesnât come across to me as a guy whoâs gonna 
sugar-coat
anything. He also isnât some first-time user of VR. Nor does it seem heâs unwilling to put the time/effort into learning about VR products and immersing himself into that space. From his videos and use-cases, he looks to have a passion for the industry and things SIM and VR.
Typically people with a passion for something are willing to spend a lot more time than the average person to learn about and find solutions to what supports their passion.
That being said, I think Karl has simply put a lot of time into his exploration of the PIMAX Crystal and has found it (like others, not all), to be simply insufficient at this time, still in Beta in various respects, and he doesnât wish to spend more of his time basically being a Beta tester for the product.
And for someone like Karl to come to that kind of conclusion speaks volumes. Call him a rat, but heâs exiting the ship.
I donât wanna say âI told you soâ, but earlier this year I was pointing out why not to buy the Crystal based on its current unknown state (i.e. when new lenses?, when WIFI Streaming?, when DFR? when WIGIG Streaming, etc etc) at and around the time PIMAX were pushing people who pre-ordered to pay full retail price and get the Crystal.
The âI told you soâ part of this, was where I eluded that itâs very likely if you buy the Crystal in the state itâs in now (back then), that thereâd be high chance youâll be getting revisions due to some change in hardware design(even if only internal) of the product and not simply just a software/firmware thing. And look. Here we are in October and PIMAX is still sending out replacement headsets to try to solve issues.
Itâs been a long road, and the Crystal really is STILL in a Beta state in some respects.
Look. I really wanted the Crystal to be the answer for next level high quality VR visuals and features.
I canât agree that it was a sane choice to purchase the Crystal back then, and even now based on missing, untested, unproven features (from both a Hardware and Software perspective).
If PIMAX cares/needs/wants to be a successful, solid and reputable VR company, then how theyâve gone about things regarding the Crystal, if not earlier VR models, shows no signs of it.
The PIMAX Crystal is basically BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK, and donât be surprised if you have issues and will need to spend a lot of time to get it working. Donât be surprised if it develops issues through regular use (like yellow dots on the screen or other aberrations).
That is your $1600 PIMAX âExperienceâ
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It is strange Pimax have not enabled PCVR Streaming yet. At this point you have to ask will it ever come? Does the AIO switch actually disable the WIFI when in PCVR mode? My Pico 4 has no such switch.
It will be interesting to see comparisons between the clarity of the Quest3 v Crystal. Crystal should win hands down with its res and glass lenses but Quest 3 has wider FoV and is actually a real AIO.
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Yeah it seems like they hit a roadblock with their own PCVR streaming software so theyâve reached out to Guy Godin to see if heâd port Virtual Desktop. Itâs no priority for him due to the small user base though, so he said itâd be at least 9 months before he got around to it. I think Pimax either needs to pay him whatever it takes to do it earlier or hire someone else to get their solution working.
I have a quest 3 on order so Iâll be able to compare with the Crystal soon.
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I find it hard to believe Pimax canât get this working themselves. The XR2 chip is used in the Portal and been used in several headsets for years. Do they really need to rely on a third party to turn on such a big feature? No wonder the Stand-alone store only has 10 apps.
Pimax would need to spec down to the most minute details which computers/motherboards/GPU/usb/dp port plugged in they have tested on. Because it is such a russian Roulette to get it to work. Hmm, their idea of selling per-configured PCs that would work with their headsets maybe wasnât such a bad idea after all. But then you have to factor in another 3K++ $ into the purchase price 
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Well, whatever it is, in any case you cannot have your marketing folks just run around and praise your product to perform features A, B, C and be plug ân play, then customer purchase it and have huge difficulties to get it to work - or maintain it in working condition - and feature C actually doesnât perform and may never improve (e.g. either of the wireless features).
This leads to a reputation as it is now, with a number of serious VR journalists like RoadtoVR, UploadVR, Tested hardly paying attention anymore to what Pimax release because they seem to expect a subpar experience no matter what the specs say.
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Christ, why do people make reviews when they cant even read the specs right? I think she thought she was reviewing the Pimax 12k. lol
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I got emails from Pimax for some kind of event which took place an hour or two ago. It claims that the Crystal is complete? Did I miss the release of a functioning Wifi option (even just either of the two) or of the MR sleeve?
Or is it another Pimax and how they see the world example?
Yeah whereâs the second set of lenses?
i just watched the video,but with all respect to pimax but the product is still not finished in what was promised⌠I think they will get a hard time with all upcoming(complete) vr headsetsâŚ
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Well pimax definitions of things.at times is 
worthy. 
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The logical conclusion would be to assume that Pimax consider the Crystal done at this point in time and shift their focus to the 12K.
Which I donât mind because I donât care about the Crystal any longer and it would be nice if Pimax somehow pulled it off to make the 12K work as advertized (obviously without wireless as they didnât even manage to get it done for the Crystal, which in comparison has a much lower resolution; and I never cared about the MR sleeve, so cool with that one missing too).
And the entire stand-alone thing for the 12K is a red herring anyhow, that resolution to be powered by an XR2 (even if 2nd gen) doesnât promise any remotely enticing graphical fidelity anyhow.
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The 12k simply has to be Pimaxes saviour. But priced at 2k+ itâs already teetering on disaster. You only need one manufacturer to release a headset with 140FOV at 1.2k with reliable eye tracking and the 12k will be another woulda, coulda, shoulda.
My Pico4 still has a home till spring next year.
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