HTC Vive is the hardcore enthusiast's choice. It's not so easy to set up - you'll be drilling holes in the walls to get the base station mounting brackets into optimal position - and there are cables to content with. Lots of cables. Oh and three power supplies. And a breakout box.

For those who wear glasses, there's no doubt that Vive is significantly more comfortable, with more space for wider or larger spectacles. The light leakage found from the bridge of the nose and the bottom of the Rift is absent on Vive, presenting a more immersive experience. The all-important field of view is also noticeably wider, though the 'screen door' effect of jumbo pixels right in front of your eyes is more noticeable - not distractingly so, but the individual sub-pixels are discernible when you focus on them. The overall impression is soft, but the scope of the image is immensely expansive. In terms of immersion, Vive is simply best in class.

The headset's front-mounted camera works brilliantly too. At any point, a double-tap of the system button on the 3D controller brings up the camera view, meaning you have easy access to the 'real world' from within the HMD. On top of that, the Vive's chaperone system - presenting a holodeck-style grid that defines the borders of the playspace - can also be adapted to integrate an outline of the real world based on the camera input. It provides a reassuring sense of place and real world positioning you don't get with the Rift - and it's essential really, as mobility is so important to Valve's take on VR, and you'll often find yourself in danger of bumping into the limits of the playspace.

You can't argue with the comprehensive level of kit provided in the package. However, installation is quite an effort and there's a lot of cabling.

The bottom line is this - to get the best out of the Vive and SteamVR as it stands right now, there's a lot preparation, set-up and prerequisites to accommodate - and the configuration doesn't lend itself particularly to portability between rooms. It's hard to imagine that the full set-up in all of its glory could be housed in the average games room, office or bedroom, while the hard split in title availability between the two competing platforms makes it really difficult to assess Vive in terms of the seated experience in the way we could with Oculus Rift.

But the pay-off when you do have Vive set-up in optimal conditions remains utterly fabulous. The collection of mini-games and demos found in Valve's own offering - The Lab - is like a distillation of all of the phenomenal press demos the firm has carried out over the last 14 months. It's a melting pot of concepts and ideas that totally sells the sense of scale VR offers, and the sheer level of immersion, along with the way that even the most established gameplay concepts feel fresh and new again.

The Vive headset offers up best-in-class immersion, but it's the controllers that serve up the gameplay. Final Approach, a beautifully realised VR take on Flight Control has you reaching up to pluck aircraft out of the sky, guiding them in to land. Cloudlands: VR Minigolf provides a stylised, fantastic world paired with eerily accurate physics - the controller works just like a golf club. Even less visually ambitious titles like Light Repair Team #4 - a simple game that's about positioning mirrors to redirect beams of light - prove absorbing, entirely by virtue of the interface. The list goes on. Virtually every Vive title demonstrates just how much 3D controllers are required for VR gaming. Without them you are more spectator than active participant. Also, the haptic feedback system borders on the uncanny - brush your 'hands' across the keyboard in Unseen Diplomacy and feel is quite remarkable.

The controllers also provide another key mechanic - pointing. Oculus Home has you moving your head in the direction of the option you want to select and pressing a button to make your choice. Steam's VR interface uses the altogether more satisfying, simpler method of point and click. In terms of gameplay, The Lab's Xortex and Longbow mini-games showcase this to great effect, along with the intense Space Pirate Trainer VR and Hover Junkers - VR's first online competitive first-person shooter. It's not out yet, but at the SteamVR developer conference, I had a lot of fun with Arizona Sunshine - Virtua Cop vs Resident Evil presented in pristine VR.

Valve and HTC have worked together to provide the most comprehensive virtual reality solution on the market today, capable of astonishing results that pave the way in revolutionising the way we play games. However, living with the device for the past week has highlighted that as brilliant as it is, it is a first-gen product that demands a zero compromise approach that may cause issues for the average user.

And yet there's nothing quite like this. Load up any of the key Vive titles and it's like nothing you've experienced before. Gaming feels fresh, exciting, renewed - a giddy feeling after years of variations on the same themes. This is more than just a gimmick: it's an entirely new, blank canvas for developers to work with and it's already delivering some unique experiences. Clearly, it's not quite the finished article, but I can't wait to see how it develops.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-htc-vive-review

I wanna try this VR stuff so bad  

If I ever buy any VR helmet, I'll probably turn toward the VIVE, first because STEAM supports it, and second I think I'd get the more for my bucks.

That is the big problem! To hand over that kind of money on something I have not been able to try out is not really an option.

Has there been any kind of mentioning on how Vive, or OR, are going to show this off to the public.

I live in a small town in a second (or third) tier country so I will probably have to wait a couple of years before I get the chance to try one of them out. PSVR will brobably be easier to find in this part of the world (Sweden).

Just waiting to see if Valve makes some exclusive games for the Vive. Like making Half Life 3 VR exclusive to Vive but also making the regular version of Half Life 3 on STEAM for all PC users. Only the VR versions of their game will be exclusive to Vive. Can you imagive Left For Dead VR? 

I'll very likely buy PSVR this year, as long as I don't have a bad experience with it at Pax.

But down the line, when I build my new PC and the next generation of headsets are out, I would love to pick up the Vive.

Steam is plastered with VR titles now, hardly anything else on the front page. Vive is way too expensive for me to even consider it at this point, especially with the fairly poor support it still has.
It'll be a few years before VR hits the mainstream and becomes an affordable form of accessory.

From the experiences I've seen ... Vive is the best. The 1:1 for throwing your controller and catching it while in VR is mind blowing.

Too bad the screen door effect is more noticable on the Vive, if they got that right it'd have been the best.

Vive has a smaller market though, it's not practical to set it up, what with the cabling and tracking points across your room.

Not to mention the price, half of it is too big for more casual oriented consumers. Perhaps even one third for mainstream consumers.