Looking for "Recommened" Alternatives to META or PIMAX

[SnowTiger]

I had a very lousy experience with Pimax last Christmas that I don't wish to ever go through again.
A recent communication with them gives me no confidence that anything has changed on their end so I have no reason to believe dealing with them would be any better today. 
I have instead been using the Meta Quest 3 which is okay, but it is not really sufficient visual quality for DCS, especially when I built a system to ensure any VR headset that is at least as good as Pimax would be sufficient to provide Excellent Graphics. 

SO I am wondering what alternative headset(s) anyone might suggest (regardless of price) that will give me a Top Notch Visual Performance in DCS but without having to deal with Pimax again ?
 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

I’m reasonably happy with my Varjo Aero. Officially Varjo no longer supports it, but that’s only for their professional market. 
So it will keep working and you’ll still get software updates too. Perhaps no more firmware updates but that’s likely no longer needed anyway since the headset is a few years old now.

[MarkyMarkUK]

Hi @SnowTiger

I know you'll not think it's good enough quality but literally, today I boxed up my Pimax Crystal Light and stuck it on eBay! I just never got it working right with DCS and there was always some sort of problem with other games. I dropped back to my PICO 4 which I haven't used for about a year. I uninstalled PIMAX PLAY and I swear my PC breathed a sigh of relief. 

I installed Virtual Desktop, loaded up DCS and whacked all the graphics to max and BANG! It looked great, I could fly low and have no micro stutters, awesome!!

Yes, of course the image isn't as sharp but I can read the dials and TBH, I'm not a massive DCS nerd, I jump in now and again, enjoy it then load up Warthunder, lol

So, I'd say, it's not all about pin sharp dials in your cockpit 

[ChariotOfFLAME]

You could try a Bigscreen Beyond 2 as a reasonable sidegrade, but to be honest the boutique PC VR ship has sailed; unfortunately, it’s not super profitable at scale.

If money is no object, however, maybe reach out to a retailer about the Somnium VR1

[Aapje]

The MeganeX 8K Superlight is also a headset to consider.

[evanswillo]

You should take a look at the VR1 Somnium, yes its big, yes its expensive software has matured to match the capabilities of the hardware now and we have a CEO who is dedicated to Hign End PCVR. Happy to offer advise to help you make your best choice.

[SnowTiger]

Thank you each for your replies and suggestions/recommendations. 
I will check each and every one out. Hopefully, I'll find a suitable alternative to Poomax.
If I do, I will let you know what I get.
Thanks again. 

[ChariotOfFLAME]

Remember, even if it’s “Meh” when you put it on, give it a few flights in weather, night, sunset, and mid day, then make your final judgment.

[ackattacker]

Right now Play for Dream MR seems to be best you can actually get right now.

Pros: Excellend OLED Quality, reasonable FOV, eye tracking, Has Steam Link 2 (beta) which provides foveated encoding near displayport quality. Excellent support and development, good communication, seems like a solid company and they are shipping now.

Cons: Wireless (somewhat mitigated by Steam Link). Currently Quad Views and Steam Link don't work together.  Uncomfortable without mods. FOV is not as good as Pimax. Some glare in lenses and not edge-to-edge clarity.

Also Samsung Galaxy XR may beat it on lenses, clarity, and vertical FOV but currently the PCVR software state is poor. This will likely improve and some people are reporting good results using a somewhat hack method of attaching a USB-C to ethernet adapter to it and using Virtual Desktop over ethernet.

Edited Saturday at 04:24 PM by ackattacker