My Thoughts on the HTC Vive Pro

I'm sure you all know that HTC just announced that the new Vive Pro will be released for $799 for the headset only. In my opinion it is just way past my budget to justify such a purchase. I understand that it will incorporate the deluxe head strap in a more ergonomic design. But the lack of the lighthouses and the controllers seen bundled with the last generation Vive is a deal breaker.

If I do purchase this, I will always have it in the back of my mind that I need to purchase additional peripherals to get the optimal experience. Light house 2 will be released later on this year. But if you add on the wireless dongle from Intel ($200) alone, the bundle becomes easily $1000. Adding the next gen Lighthouses and controllers will definitely push the price past $1000. Not to mention the fact that the Vive Pro will be increasing the resolution, thereby taxing your GPU even more. You may need to upgrade because the minimum GPU recommended specs for the Vive Pro is the gtx 1060 or rx 480. With the rise of GPU prices due to crypto currencies, just be prepared to spend an additional $300+ average.

I understand this headset will have a bundle available latter this year -- around the holidays. But if it does include the above items, that bundle will definitely be more that a grand. I am all for paying a premium for items, but not including a controller and lighthouse out of the box is a bummer. I am more incentivize to purchase the cheaper Vive or the Occulus. I can see paying $200 for the wireless dongle, seeing it is the first of its kind. But $800 for just the headset is just too much. But then again, who doesn't want to be Ugandan Knuckles.