HACKER Q&A
📣 Towaway69

VR/AR – Current State of the Art


Hi HN,

I’m thinking of getting a Valve VR headset and was wondering if it’s on a par with the Quest headset?

Also I believe a Facebook account is a prerequisite for a Quest? Is there any such requirement for a Valve? I don’t want to get a headset that requires a social media account to run.

Any suggestions for alternative options?

Thanks in advance!

  👤 PaulHoule Accepted Answer ✓
You can use a Quest with a Quest account which is not linked to a Facebook account.

The Quest is a standalone headset that is basically an Android device, you can run applications and games on it, walk anywhere you want with it, etc. You can hook it up to a PC with a special cable and use it for PCVR

The Valve Index on the other hand is basically a monitor that you attach to your PC. It can support much bigger and graphically better experiences but you are always attached to your PC via a cable.

I don't know if it requires a Steam account, but the intention behind it is that you'll install games with Steam which requires an account.

👤 LorenDB
Don't buy a Valve Index. It's pretty old at this point, and you'd be way better off getting a Bigscreen Beyond or PSVR2 if you just want tethered PCVR.

You might also want to look at https://vr-compare.com/ to help find headsets.