Let’s get the framing info out of the way- I am running a 1080Ti, 8 gigs RAM (I know, I know, I want more too), i7.
I have the 5k+ loaner while I wait for the 8kX. Like all of us, I scoured every single review I found online, compared every picture, squinted to understand the pixel placement comparisons. I ended up going with the 5k+. Let’s talk about how I feel about that choice:
-Pros and cons.
Pros: It’s a great VR. I worked myself up a little bit in the months leading to getting it based on comments from reviewers and such- oh, the FOV isn’t full, it’s like a scuba mask, oh, the pixels are diamond, blah blah blah. The moment I got it up and running, I knew I’d made the right choice. I barely see the edges of the image out of the corner of my eyes, and the image looks stunning. The vast majority of the time, I don’t notice the screendoor. When I do, it’s usually because I am sitting and staring at a loading screen or something, and nothing is happening.
Cons: Not so much the headset as pitool and the firmware and such can still be touchy. The sweet spot for the pupils is really small and I wish each eye could be independently adjusted- not everybody has eyes exactly evenly spaced. A little bit more adjustability with tilting and such would be handy. These are all pretty nitpick though, it’s darned solid. After some reluctance, I tried wearing my glasses while wearing the headset, and my experience has been much improved. I know Pimax said they had added space to allow you to do that, but I was still leery of accidentally scratching the lenses and such. Seems to be okay though.
-How the FOV immersion you into the game.
Holy crap, let me tell you. I used to have a gen 1 vive, and I try to explain to people- it was like an Atari compared to this one’s XBOX. That’s both the FOV and the resolution. You…eventually got used to the Vive feeling like you were looking through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars. With the 5K+, there was no getting used to anything, it was just all there.
-How does the resolution make you read text clear?
It’s absolutely fine. Again, Gen 1 Vive I legitimately struggled to read text. Now it’s fine, like reading off of a screen.
Apparel/Design
I mean, I like the look because in part it looks like Tron. It also matches my computer case. Neither of which really matter, but it’s nice nonetheless. It is huge because the screens are huge, but it never feels heavy.
Wearing Experience
I know people are complaining about having soft straps and how rigid straps are the big things now, but I don’t know. I’ve worn hardhats plenty over the years, and I think I prefer the softer straps. It’s very comfortable, and allows my wife and I to rapidly change the fitting between us- wheras hard straps don’t really allow you to share as easily or rapidly. It’s comfortable, well balanced, lightweight.
Image Quality
Stunning. Yes, you can make out the individual pixels when you stare. For myself, that kind of thing very quickly becomes ignored once I’m doing anything. Look, I can’t stand DLP projectors because the entire rainbow effect that everybody else is fine with, and I am saying this visual does not bother me. I would also say that the ability to see the pixels is not really the same as the screen door effect. That’s me though. I’ve had the 5K+ for a little over a month and not once did I think- ungh, look, a pixel. Whatever. Point being, for the vast majority of people I don’t see this being any issue whatsoever. I have not tried the 8K, but I suspect that you’re getting into differences of degrees rather than differences in kind.**
Performance（Your gaming experience with Pimax, you can share not only one game experience) Also, would like to hear about your RIG. It can help others know about the FPS ish.**
Let me get this out of the way- the world has a long way to go to make VR plug and play. That said, lets talk games.
Raw Data, Fruit Ninja VR, Rolling Line, Tabletop Simulator, Talos Principle, all work smoothly and well. The immersion was great aside from my wishing I had a longer cable (I have purchased an extension, have not set it up yet).
That said, I ended up having to buy a Vive (my old one returned a couple of years ago in anticipation of getting this…wish I had kept it now but oh well) for the lighthouses and controllers. The first month I had the VR, I got terribly nauseous wearing it because of the lack of lighthouses. This is not specific to Pimax, it’s a warning for any headset which doesn’t use inside-out tracking without lighthouses.
Games: Great stuff. Playing games both designed exclusively for VR and ones with VR added. Also went back to play games I had enjoyed with the Vive Gen 1.
Videos: Various interactive movies and movies watched on “screens” Works great, biggest problem is finding good playback software.
Concluding Thoughts
Glad I bought it, wish the cable was longer, wish it wasn’t so hard to wake up from “sleep” sometimes. No regrets about the 5k+ over the 8k. Am debating whether or not I really want the 8kX. Depends on the specs I suppose. If it ends up having the same screens as the 8k, I may just keep the loaner instead and see if they’ll send me their controllers and Gen 2 lighthouses instead.