Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset: The Affordable Onramp to VR (and More?) - MMORPG.com

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
edited March 2018 in News & Features Discussion

imageAcer Windows Mixed Reality Headset: The Affordable Onramp to VR (and More?) - MMORPG.com

When VR first hit the stage, trying it for yourself was daunting. The computing requirements were high and the costs were even higher. Today, both of those things are more within reach than ever and we at MMORPG.com believe that there are experiences you should be having. Thankfully, Acer is here to help with their entry on the brand new Windows Mixed Reality platform.

Read the full story here



¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


«1

Comments

  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Windows 10 required? No sale. There is no way I'm using Mickysofts most recent abomination. I'll stick to windows 7. Its too bad, as it looks interesting.
    PhryBlacklabelcaliViper482SlyLoKDataDayGel214thAsm0deusmaskedweaselspeedylegs8[Deleted User]and 8 others.
    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    Wraithone said:
    Windows 10 required? No sale. There is no way I'm using Mickysofts most recent abomination. I'll stick to windows 7. Its too bad, as it looks interesting.
    Given that there are significantly more people gaming on Win 7 than on Win 10, perhaps they should have taken that into consideration, nothing like entering an already very niche market with a product that doesn't even work on most gaming PC's.  :p
    Blacklabelcali[Deleted User][Deleted User]ApridiseeugheuforceMaddog666chocolate42069
  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,056
    Windows 10 is fine, stop being stupid.
    SlyLoKOyjordSBFordTillerhfzttDataDayRemyVorenderAsm0deusForgrimmmoshraand 17 others.
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • OyjordOyjord Member UncommonPosts: 568
    I love the price point, but I'm prone to motion sickness. I want to buy these but am honestly a tad afraid.
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    Acer, HP, Dell, Lonovo, Samsung, looks like everyone is getting into the mixed reality headset market. Reviews appear to be about average for them all. At least prices are dropping.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • TillerTiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,125
    edited March 2018

    Viper482 said:

    Windows 10 is fine, stop being stupid.



    There is no reason not to move to 10, it's now stable and it was free. If your computer can't run Windows 10, then perhaps you should not be worrying about the latest games. It's like the people who complain about Denuvo, the fear over nothing because it's the cool thing to do. Believe it or not there are still people using windows XP who refuse to upgrade because they think it will steal their soul. They piss and moan all over Steam about how a game sucks and they won't buy because it won't support XP lol. Well don't buy it then, have fun with your 3.5 floppy disks and Rollercoaster tycoon 1.
    Gel214thAsm0deusApridiseMaddog666Aegiris
    SWG Bloodfin vet
    Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
     
  • jitter77jitter77 Member UncommonPosts: 512
    The more I use windows 10 the more I dislike it. Most other versions of windows if I ran into a problem I was able to fix it. With windows 10 I have ran into problems where I spent 10+ hours trying to fix something and never got it right.

    For example my neighbors laptop would not let windows update complete. I researched and researched tried every fix under the sun and never got it. I ended up just doing in inplace upgrade.
    On my PC I had an issue where I could not type in the search bar or left click on the windows icon. No fix I found would work.

    Recently I had could not get my video card driver to update and spent a couple days on that. To get it to work I have to uninstall all ATI stuff, run DDU , go to safe mode, run DDU again, restart into safe mode w/o network, manually install the driver through device manager, reboot into regular mode then run the ATI setup program. I have updated drivers hundreds of times and never had such issues.
    Gel214thAsm0deusMaddog666
  • MikehaMikeha Member EpicPosts: 9,196
    Windows 10 is my favorite of them all.  
    DataDaymaskedweaselspeedylegs8Maddog666chocolate42069Powerless
  • hfztthfztt Member RarePosts: 1,401
    jitter77 said:

    For example my neighbors laptop would not let windows update complete. I researched and researched tried every fix under the sun and never got it. I ended up just doing in inplace upgrade.
    Yeah, i ran into that actually. Turns out that major upgrades does a compatability check and installed software can make that test fail, then the install process is aborted but does not inform you why. I was blocked by not having updated Trions Glyph software once. I found out when I started an upgrade using an install media instead, after having failed the upgrade via Windows Update a few times. The install media upgrade process actually tells you what software is blocking the upgrade.

    I agree its a stupid usability bug, but it is not worse than problems you can run into using Win 7, so, meh.

    As for problems with driver updates, consider yourself lucky if you have never had problems with that before. I cannot think of a single, not only windows version, but OS that has NOT managed to fail a gfx driver update on me. Just saying.
    Gel214thApridiseMaddog666
  • animeoutlawanimeoutlaw Member UncommonPosts: 27
    No point in not upgrading. They stopped mainstream support for Win 7 like 3 years ago. And extended support ends in 2 years. Eventually their OS will go to trash and they'll have to upgrade when it becomes obsolete lol.
    ApridiseMaddog666
  • DataDayDataDay Member UncommonPosts: 1,538
    edited March 2018
    Please pass on this wave of Windows VR headsets. They are not going to be that good. If you do get one, go with Samsung's Odyssey. At that point though you are better off getting either the Oculus or better yet the new Vive.

    VR will be expensive for now, if you go too cheap you will not be happy with the results. Both the Rift and Vive have had some good sales, which the Rift even being sold as low as $350 during certain events.

    For what its worth... I have the PSVR, Rift and Vive. The best user experience so far has been with the Vive. LG is also coming out with their Steam VR headset, which will most definitely be better than the current Vive. Windows Mixed Reality Headsets are just not up to par hardware wise, wait for them to go down in price and or update their hardware.


    ----


    Regarding the Windows 10 discussion.

    Win 10 is fine. Its actually one of their best OS so far, with the biggest annoyance being the constant updates you get. However, there are two solutions to this if it annoys the user too much... get the version that gives you direct control over your updates OR use other means to control them.

    Every windows 10 user should be using the Ultimate WIndows Tweaker. Turn off all the stuff you don't like, such as telemetry.

    You do not need to be a power user to get the best Win 10 experience. The performance gains with Win 10 is no laughing matter either, its a good high polished OS.

    Furthermore, if at any time you find some crazy issue thats causing problems. It so easy to roll back (without losing anything) that, any annoyance that might pop up ends up being quite minor at the end of the day.

    The biggest issues people will have will be with upgrading to the OS on older hardware, especially laptops, since they were not built with the OS in mind and software support is not always there or in sync with the hardware.
    Maddog666
  • TillerTiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,125

    hfztt said:


    jitter77 said:



    For example my neighbors laptop would not let windows update complete. I researched and researched tried every fix under the sun and never got it. I ended up just doing in inplace upgrade.



    Yeah, i ran into that actually. Turns out that major upgrades does a compatability check and installed software can make that test fail, then the install process is aborted but does not inform you why. I was blocked by not having updated Trions Glyph software once. I found out when I started an upgrade using an install media instead, after having failed the upgrade via Windows Update a few times. The install media upgrade process actually tells you what software is blocking the upgrade.

    I agree its a stupid usability bug, but it is not worse than problems you can run into using Win 7, so, meh.

    As for problems with driver updates, consider yourself lucky if you have never had problems with that before. I cannot think of a single, not only windows version, but OS that has NOT managed to fail a gfx driver update on me. Just saying.



    Actually the issues some face is related to the upgrade itself. A fresh install was needed in my case to fix some of the issues I had with updates. Also I think a lot of people have issue with the fact that 10 hides a lot of the customization of previous versions. It's all still there, you just gotta know how to find it.

    For those with issues with the upgrade, there is a fresh start tool which fixes most issues.
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10startfresh
    SWG Bloodfin vet
    Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
     
  • seshsesseshses Member UncommonPosts: 67
    Nothing wrong with windows 10 lol
    Asm0deusspeedylegs8Maddog666
  • tawesstawess Member EpicPosts: 4,227
    edited March 2018

    Wraithone said:

    Windows 10 required? No sale. There is no way I'm using Mickysofts most recent abomination. I'll stick to windows 7. Its too bad, as it looks interesting.



    I am pretty sure that Microsoft simply do not offer any support for developers to any OS beyond W10.. Makes sense from a biz standpoint. Sucks from a user endpoint... But that is life i guess.

    This have been a good conversation

  • Asm0deusAsm0deus Member EpicPosts: 4,389
    edited March 2018
    Windows 10 creator update requirement is a killer for me. I am perfectly happy on windows 7 for now and if I ever "need" to go to w10 it will be W10 LTSB so I can gut out the crap in it I don't want.

    Post edited by Asm0deus on

    Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.





  • DvoraDvora Member UncommonPosts: 499
    edited March 2018

    DataDay said:

    Please pass on this wave of Windows VR headsets. They are not going to be that good. If you do get one, go with Samsung's Odyssey. At that point though you are better off getting either the Oculus or better yet the new Vive.



    VR will be expensive for now, if you go too cheap you will not be happy with the results. Both the Rift and Vive have had some good sales, which the Rift even being sold as low as $350 during certain events.



    For what its worth... I have the PSVR, Rift and Vive. The best user experience so far has been with the Vive. LG is also coming out with their Steam VR headset, which will most definitely be better than the current Vive. Windows Mixed Reality Headsets are just not up to par hardware wise, wait for them to go down in price and or update their hardware.






    ----








    Regarding the Windows 10 discussion.




    Win 10 is fine. Its actually one of their best OS so far, with the biggest annoyance being the constant updates you get. However, there are two solutions to this if it annoys the user too much... get the version that gives you direct control over your updates OR use other means to control them.




    Every windows 10 user should be using the Ultimate WIndows Tweaker. Turn off all the stuff you don't like, such as telemetry.




    You do not need to be a power user to get the best Win 10 experience. The performance gains with Win 10 is no laughing matter either, its a good high polished OS.




    Furthermore, if at any time you find some crazy issue thats causing problems. It so easy to roll back (without losing anything) that, any annoyance that might pop up ends up being quite minor at the end of the day.




    The biggest issues people will have will be with upgrading to the OS on older hardware, especially laptops, since they were not built with the OS in mind and software support is not always there or in sync with the hardware.



    You are fairly wrong about the windows headset... I have a vive, and have played extensively with my friends windows headset. The head tracking is really just as good, and the resolution is definitely noticeably better. I had few minor glitches with controllers when they are out of sight of the headset, but it was really very minor and quickly fixed itself once back in sight, much less of a problem than I expected. It still knows generally where your controllers are because of gyros. For some reason it even works as good if not better than the vive for games where u have to grab your gun behind your back.

    One of the only things I didnt like about the headset is that the controllers are not rechargeable, but use AA bateries. In a weekend of pretty extensive play i think we replaced the batterys once each in each controller, though, so its not horrible.

    I also didnt really care for the VR windows home thing, and the placement of the setup button on the controllers. You can still use the steam home tho instead of the windows home once you're in.

    You really can't beat the price of the windows headset, the review was spot on for that. If I have to replace the vive, which is a possibility because it seems to be burning up my usb3.0 ports, I'd go with the windows headset right now, although the samsung one sounds interesting too. Bit overpriced tho.
  • DataDayDataDay Member UncommonPosts: 1,538

    Dvora said:




    You are fairly wrong about the windows headset... I have a vive, and have played extensively with my friends windows headset. The head tracking is really just as good, and the resolution is definitely noticeably better. I had few minor glitches with controllers when they are out of sight of the headset, but it was really very minor and quickly fixed itself once back in sight, much less of a problem than I expected. It still knows generally where your controllers are because of gyros. For some reason it even works as good if not better than the vive for games where u have to grab your gun behind your back.


    Not wrong at all, but I appreciate the response. As for why I am not wrong... You already explained it in your post. You said its just as good as the Vive, then a few sentences later admit that the controllers "glitch out" when they are out of sight of the tracking cameras causing a glitch.

    That is not "just as good" but rather WORSE than the Vive's tracking solution. Windows MR headsets rely on the two cameras in front of the user to track the controllers, the moment they go out of sight it has to re-calibrate using a less precise method of tracking. Inside out tracking is more about convenience than accuracy or performance (at least atm).

    The simple fact of the matter is external tracking methods are going to be far more accurate than built in ones. This rule has not been changed yet (Emphasis on "yet").

    The other important thing you have to consider is that outside of Samsung's offering, the rest of the windows MR headsets atm are using basic LCD screens. These have some significant downsides compared to Oled screens which other VR headsets use. LCDs are cheaper though, which is why you pay less. Oled is low persistence, with regular LCD screens used being full persistence. This can cause LCDs to cause more noticeable ghosting in VR. Oleds also feature higher contrast ratios, which is important for good VR.

    Again you can cut corners, pay a little bit less, but the hardware you are paying for is cheaper by design and the experience will objectively be not as good. I am not anti-windows mixed reality either, its just that their current set of VR headsets are not very good at the moment. Better to either spend a little bit more and get a rift ($350-399) or a Vive, or hold out for a later generation of Mixed Reality headsets that include better hardware.


    Asm0deus
  • maskedweaselmaskedweasel Member LegendaryPosts: 12,173
    DataDay said:

    Dvora said:




    You are fairly wrong about the windows headset... I have a vive, and have played extensively with my friends windows headset. The head tracking is really just as good, and the resolution is definitely noticeably better. I had few minor glitches with controllers when they are out of sight of the headset, but it was really very minor and quickly fixed itself once back in sight, much less of a problem than I expected. It still knows generally where your controllers are because of gyros. For some reason it even works as good if not better than the vive for games where u have to grab your gun behind your back.


    Not wrong at all, but I appreciate the response. As for why I am not wrong... You already explained it in your post. You said its just as good as the Vive, then a few sentences later admit that the controllers "glitch out" when they are out of sight of the tracking cameras causing a glitch.

    That is not "just as good" but rather WORSE than the Vive's tracking solution. Windows MR headsets rely on the two cameras in front of the user to track the controllers, the moment they go out of sight it has to re-calibrate using a less precise method of tracking. Inside out tracking is more about convenience than accuracy or performance (at least atm).

    The simple fact of the matter is external tracking methods are going to be far more accurate than built in ones. This rule has not been changed yet (Emphasis on "yet").

    The other important thing you have to consider is that outside of Samsung's offering, the rest of the windows MR headsets atm are using basic LCD screens. These have some significant downsides compared to Oled screens which other VR headsets use. LCDs are cheaper though, which is why you pay less. Oled is low persistence, with regular LCD screens used being full persistence. This can cause LCDs to cause more noticeable ghosting in VR. Oleds also feature higher contrast ratios, which is important for good VR.

    Again you can cut corners, pay a little bit less, but the hardware you are paying for is cheaper by design and the experience will objectively be not as good. I am not anti-windows mixed reality either, its just that their current set of VR headsets are not very good at the moment. Better to either spend a little bit more and get a rift ($350-399) or a Vive, or hold out for a later generation of Mixed Reality headsets that include better hardware.


    There's problems with external tracking too.  They require too much time to setup, and often they can be blocked  by objects you have placed in a room.  

    That's actually the major problem still with the next generation of upgrades for the Vive, it still uses external tracking, whereas the new MR sets with internal tracking are hitting the market later this year, some of which are cordless, and the internal tracking will allow you to move from room to room if necessary.  Some of the new inside out softwares being developed that we may even see in Cell VR in the very near future is pretty, crazily comprehensive, albeit still a half measure until all sets have cameras available to take 360 snapshots for full roomscale without needing to setup roomscale beforehand, which is how the new sets work.

    Lots of interesting upcoming sets,  but whether its MR or the Vive or the Rift, I wouldn't invest in any of them right now unless you have money to burn.  We're maybe a year away from sets that will be more mobile with better resolution and better consumer friendly tracking.

    Not to mention we'll see some really great AR devices popping up, some of which might even do VR better than the big boys if they manage to get the short range laser projection thing working.  Might be a little further down for the VR space, but it'll be out this year for AR.
    [Deleted User]



  • SaintAsurakaSaintAsuraka Member UncommonPosts: 2
    I owned a Lenovo Windows MR headset for about a week and returned it. I really wanted it to be great but it just wasn't. It felt like I was alpha testing a product that was not ready for consumer use. The library for actually decent content is very small and the LCD over OLED screens felt like I was looking through a small set of goggles, which ruin immersion.
    Asm0deus
  • DvoraDvora Member UncommonPosts: 499
    edited March 2018

    DataDay said:



    Dvora said:







    You are fairly wrong about the windows headset... I have a vive, and have played extensively with my friends windows headset. The head tracking is really just as good, and the resolution is definitely noticeably better. I had few minor glitches with controllers when they are out of sight of the headset, but it was really very minor and quickly fixed itself once back in sight, much less of a problem than I expected. It still knows generally where your controllers are because of gyros. For some reason it even works as good if not better than the vive for games where u have to grab your gun behind your back.





    Not wrong at all, but I appreciate the response. As for why I am not wrong... You already explained it in your post. You said its just as good as the Vive, then a few sentences later admit that the controllers "glitch out" when they are out of sight of the tracking cameras causing a glitch.



    That is not "just as good" but rather WORSE than the Vive's tracking solution. Windows MR headsets rely on the two cameras in front of the user to track the controllers, the moment they go out of sight it has to re-calibrate using a less precise method of tracking. Inside out tracking is more about convenience than accuracy or performance (at least atm).



    The simple fact of the matter is external tracking methods are going to be far more accurate than built in ones. This rule has not been changed yet (Emphasis on "yet").



    The other important thing you have to consider is that outside of Samsung's offering, the rest of the windows MR headsets atm are using basic LCD screens. These have some significant downsides compared to Oled screens which other VR headsets use. LCDs are cheaper though, which is why you pay less. Oled is low persistence, with regular LCD screens used being full persistence. This can cause LCDs to cause more noticeable ghosting in VR. Oleds also feature higher contrast ratios, which is important for good VR.



    Again you can cut corners, pay a little bit less, but the hardware you are paying for is cheaper by design and the experience will objectively be not as good. I am not anti-windows mixed reality either, its just that their current set of VR headsets are not very good at the moment. Better to either spend a little bit more and get a rift ($350-399) or a Vive, or hold out for a later generation of Mixed Reality headsets that include better hardware.








    You can call it worse if you want to, but I really notice almost no difference, certainly no difference at all in the head tracking, and a noticeably BETTER picture quality which imo makes up for the barely noticeably "worse" controller tracking. The vive pro will likely have comparable resolution but the price will still be much much higher.

    From your posts I don't see anything saying you have even tried the windows headsets. You just sound like a paid salesman or someone who has read a few biased articles vs someone who tried both side by side.

    As far as the oled screens vs led, the contrast difference in the headsets was not noticeable to me at all. I do however notice the much lower screendoor effect and better image clarity in windows headset.
    Post edited by Dvora on
  • acidbloodacidblood Member RarePosts: 878
    edited March 2018

    Tiller said:



    Viper482 said:


    Windows 10 is fine, stop being stupid.






    There is no reason not to move to 10, it's now stable and it was free.



    While W10 is generally a lot better now than it was at launch, there is still a fair bit to dislike about it, not the least of which is having Microsoft’s latest shovel-ware forcibly installed every year or so (you can delay it, but it WILL be installed eventually). Or having to check that certain 'updates' didn't just silently change your settings.

    There is also the trust issue; i.e. while MS may not be doing anything 'too evil' right now, they do have control over updating your system and licence to install and change pretty much anything they like whenever they like. What's that, you want to disable our AI spyware? Too bad, too many people disabled it in the past, so the best you can do now is hide it and pretend it doesn't exist. (i.e. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain).

    I also seriously dislike the design of the windows in W10, and how hard it is to tell at a glance which one is active; W10 = grey vs. black window name and barely visible border vs. W7/8 = full colour vs. grey title bar and clearly visible border. Settings is also a very mixed bag (and I generally still prefer Control Panel), and don't even get me started on how useless and cluttered the W10 'Start' menu is... # ClassicShellForLife
    knightkpcAsm0deus
  • aRtFuLThinGaRtFuLThinG Member UncommonPosts: 1,387
    acidblood said:

    Tiller said:



    Viper482 said:


    Windows 10 is fine, stop being stupid.






    There is no reason not to move to 10, it's now stable and it was free.



    While W10 is generally a lot better now than it was at launch, there is still a fair bit to dislike about it, not the least of which is having Microsoft’s latest shovel-ware forcibly installed every year or so (you can delay it, but it WILL be installed eventually). Or having to check that certain 'updates' didn't just silently change your settings.

    There is also the trust issue; i.e. while MS may not be doing anything 'too evil' right now, they do have control over updating your system and licence to install and change pretty much anything they like whenever they like. What's that, you want to disable our AI spyware? Too bad, too many people disabled it in the past, so the best you can do now is hide it and pretend it doesn't exist. (i.e. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain).

    I also seriously dislike the design of the windows in W10, and how hard it is to tell at a glance which one is active; W10 = grey vs. black window name and barely visible border vs. W7/8 = full colour vs. grey title bar and clearly visible border. Settings is also a very mixed bag (and I generally still prefer Control Panel), and don't even get me started on how useless and cluttered the W10 'Start' menu is... # ClassicShellForLife
    True if you are talking about work pc or movie streaming pc...

    But you guys are talking about gaming pc here. Gaming pc - as long as it works and it is fast. It really doesn't matter about all these other privacy things... I mean do I really care if big corporations know if I'm playing games with this pc? lol.
    knightkpc
  • maskedweaselmaskedweasel Member LegendaryPosts: 12,173
    I owned a Lenovo Windows MR headset for about a week and returned it. I really wanted it to be great but it just wasn't. It felt like I was alpha testing a product that was not ready for consumer use. The library for actually decent content is very small and the LCD over OLED screens felt like I was looking through a small set of goggles, which ruin immersion.
    I don't understand, you can play all the same titles you can play on the other headsets.  There are ways to play both steamvr and oculus games using windows MR, so the major content problems would be across all platforms not just windows MR if there were any content problems at all.
    Mikeha



  • zenomexzenomex Member UncommonPosts: 242
    Acer? haha
  • MikehaMikeha Member EpicPosts: 9,196
    The reviews I have seem are very positive towards all the Mixed Reality Headsets. 

    Samsung Odyssey is supposed to be one of the best VR headsets on the market. 


Sign In or Register to comment.