Mobile VR ready rig for a frequent traveler?

[VS461]

Hi folks,

 

I'm thinking about to get a little more serious again on DCS, after 10 years. I travel a lot for business, so I have some free time in the evenings while on the go. Currently I have a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming laptop (i5-7300HQ, 1050, 8GB DDR4-2400, SATA3 M2 SSD) which runs DCS very decent (1080p, mid settings), but I fly only in a casual way, just having fun in single player, in FC3 or Ka-50, no heavy scenery, with a Logi Extreme 3D, no head tracking. This is what I want to change: more flying, more helicopter (I saw pics about Mi-24P), more precision strikes, go online again with friends. I also want to fly with a VR set.

 

So, what would you folks suggest? A laptop again would be the best as an out-of-box stuff but not too much allowed for upgrades or OC. They are also expensive - maybe a used or refurbished one. What CPU/GPU/RAM combo would be the minimum for VR if talking about laptops?

 

On the other hand, I can imagine a small miniITX cube as well but it would be bulkier, needs a keyboard, mouse and the flat TV in the hotel room. But it is probably cheaper and easier to upgrade/OC.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Mr_sukebe]

Some thoughts:

- When I was travelling regularly, I found the internet more than a little patchy in some countries, so worth considering where you're going

- As the primary bottleneck for VR is currently the GPU, to keep costs for both the laptop and VR headset down, a Rift S is a good call. It doesn't have the best resolution out there, but it's good, and has a lower set of GPU requirements than most

- IMO, for a decent spec that's not going to leave you wondering why you didn't spend more, 2070 Super, 32GB ram, 500GB SSD, 9600 or better CPU.

- For the HOTAS, clearly you don't want to be lugging around lots of additional gear. I bought a copy of the Gladiator, as sold by a Chinese company recently for around 50 euro. It's not going to compete with my Virpil setup, but for the price, it's a steal, and includes plenty of buttons, nice accurate responses and a twist grip for rudder