The Portal is definitely getting the deserved attention. With it also having swappable lense options also makes it a very flexible device. The Roadshow has definitely helped ppl to recognize the potential of this exciting Frontier.
1 Like
The discussion about replaceable lenses is interesting.
Here are some thoughts on it:
- People with glasses can easily scratch the lens on most vr headsets. It happens enough that it causes a fair amount of vr user fallout where users scratch up the lenses and just donât return to vr. Itâs also the cause of a lot of rmaâs. Much easier/cheaper/faster to send lenses.
- Allows improvements over time via suggestions from users and experts. Future fov and density options etc.
- Users never have to remove it if they are happy with the lens that comes pre-installed. In this use case it is no different than any other headset.
- You can easily swap in lenses that have a prescription and swap back to the general lens for your family.
- Adds almost nothing to the manufacturing cost of the headset.
Small note - the coating on the protective layer is on the opposite side and the user cannot access it. Therefore it canât be ârubbed offâ during cleaning as was mentioned.
Just my .02c
10 Likes
This is good to know⌠
3 Likes
How much is a replacement set of lenses going to cost?
I will add replacement lenses to the chart as Pimax highlight it as a feature.
2 Likes
Actually I think he has a lot of good points
The portal is going to be bad for pimax, said so from the start and am still convinced about it. Pimax will regret it at some point.
Doing roadshows with a prototype made no sense and shows pimax amatueurism. Also the fact that attendees had to tell them about the lens problems makes you feel you just canât take this company seriously.
Great that he likes the crystal image fidelity at least that shows thereâs potential. However just like he said, basically if you buy this thing at launch youâre still going to buy a prototype. Pimax will keep developing it and will be launching better versions along the way. Iâm hopeful that at some point it will be a nice headset but it might take some time and by then there might be better options available
3 Likes
This is speculation based on past history. However one could say the same with buying a lot of hardware like GPUs with Launch issues to New Vive hmds. While there will likely be features not ready at launch. I will presume for example controller Tracking will be fixed for launch as it is a very much needed feature.
Since we have other hmds using Qualcomm based tracking am also sure Qualcomm will be working hard to ensure controllers work well; to which we may not have had it demoed apparently the high accuracy mode is said to work well but has terrible battery life.
The Portal on the other hand appears to be getting good reviews with what has been shown so far. If you check this idea was hatched well over a year ago by Qualcomm so it apoears they have used there partnership to move this forward as Qualcomm projection was to have it released sometime this year.
Now while I donât think pimax might consider it. But the Portal if it can also be dual booted with an Arm Linux OS this would also add more value for use.
This is why Iâm surprised Pico4 came out so polished. Wifi6e out of the box, works great for PCVR, Controller tracking is good. Pancake lenses are good. Itâs small its light and the pass through camera is great. I donât think Iâve found anything to complain about.
Surprising Crystal is not on par with Pico4 Enterprise features at this point. If Pico4 had 3k displays and a Display cable how much more difference is there between the two?
2 Likes
Of course. But itâs been that way since the beginning. They donât seem to polish their headsets too much, just release them and then improve any issues that users report. Basically itâs one big beta testing project. I donât think thatâs right. They should do more beta testing before release and just release better polished products
Good points. How much would the better display bump up the price?
And if itâs not available in North America itâs still not ideal.
Itâs the 12k Iâm waiting for but for many the 3k variant you describe would be a very good option.
1 Like
Speculation with the Portal appearing to be a joint venture between Qualcomm and pimax both are likely equally invested and yes both sharing the risk. Again Speculation.
For the Portal itself to be successful it needs standalone content not just relying on game streaming. From monitoring the KS there are indeed DeVs signing up. Who they are I donât know these folks by name that have. posted comments.
VR content made for Portal VR mode will work on Higher end standaline Reality hmds.
But Back to the Portal. For this device to have imho wider success it must not just be online purchase. It needs greater penetration into places like GaneStop and Bestbuy. Where Consumers can trial demo stations.
This to be fair there is a reason why it is not released for sale yet. It still needs polish so it can release with good vibes. Remember the Vive Pro released with broken âprofessionalâ audio that they stated they were not sure if they were going to be able to resolve?
Now some have said why demo it in this current state? To be open and give folks a look as people have asked and was intended to do so before and had not been completed.
Just need them to communicate better so it is less if surprise with the product nit being ready yet. It also with being clear about a demo beung not final a good peak into the development process. Kind of like âHow itâs Madeâ
Indeed they need to improve this to a better quality level than what it has been to at least match the industry Beta releases. Unfortunately we have seen since the Internet has become standard for ppl to have. Software these days are more beta compared to when folks didnât have internet and had to buy updates from a local store. Bought DOS 6 had to buy the upgrade to 6.2 etc⌠Game DeVs usually included a patch in an expansion if a game had them.
Developers had to do better testing before release to avoid fallout. Now often games have at times bad issues on release with fixes as they go with apology oops dlc offered to make it ok.
Well, this is one of the reasons people are concluding that HTC has lost it a bitâŚ
And about the demos - demos are generally cool, no doubt. And it would have been great if Pimax had publicly demoed their prototypes at CES 2022. However, this was announced as a demo of their launch version, a finished product. If you canât even demo more than half of its features, what on earth do you expect guys like Bradley to say about it? In their communication on 30 September they should have said âsorry folks, will take another 3-6 months, perhaps moreâ and then demo it - that would have made sense. But now it looked like theyâre trying to sell you half a product at 100% of its price.With no certainty of later fulfillment. Thatâs why you get reviews like Bradleyâs. Not at all unfair, just self-inflicted. Those who complain about his review on this point are massively moving the goalposts theyâd hold other companies to.
As I have stated a couple of times, Pimax themselves are their worst enemy.
4 Likes
Exactly this. I have started to really dislike htc
So helios âlook at HTC they do bad things tooâ remark is quite irrelevant. If anything you do NOT want to be like htc
1 Like
Very True with HTC it is a shame HP has bailed from VR as the Reverb 2 did indeed seem to be decent. This looks to be possibly the death knell of wmr; unless MS pulls a Valve and makes there own. Which might be likely as Valve tried to get 3rdparties to buy there vr dev kits and failed miserably. Which is also likely in part why LG bailed on Valve with the Ultragear hmd that was on the verge of being relessed.
I very much agree with the failure of pimax to do the demos of the 12k that should have happened after the issues at ces made it not do able.
As I also agree the Sept update should have stated delays with promoting they will be demoing some features that are near complete with these Roadshows with leaving the unfinished condition being the surprise. 
2 Likes
But it holds validity with Releasing products not ready from a very well established company. We also saw the same with HP Reverb 1. More and more companies are trending with releasing products in a bad state. Even Valve with the Index Controllers poor quality Joysticks at launch.
Add both the numerous times Both Amd and Nvidia have bad gpu launch issues. The list goes on. Launch releases are becoming more common that are more like public betas
1 Like
I think Bradley echos a lot of what has been brought up here.
Thereâs a lengthy discussion thread on this video here already, give it a look.
2 Likes
I think this comes back to better communication. Pimaxians and reviewers will be more inclined to cut Pimax some slack if they go into these events with expectations based on more open, clearly defined, and unvarnished information provided in a more timely manner by Pimax.
I love Pimax for its enthusiastic pursuit of the cutting edge. All I ask is that they get a bit more realistic in their marketing. Itâs great to say âHereâs what weâre hoping to achieveâŚâ but letâs add, âhereâs what we have done so far.â Donât make promises on timelines so far in advance.
7 Likes
At least we now have an official chart tracking progress.
2 Likes