VR flying and Racing on a budget

I recently had a friend ask how to get into VR sim racing or VT flight simming on a budget.  and I found the answer for him so I feel it's a good topic to talk about and give real warnings about finding used VR gear.

He had almost no money, but had a PC with a 1070 Video card.  This means nothing that is current is useable.   He had almost pulled the trigger on a use Valve Index that was $900 when I talked him off the ledge.   The valve index is incredibly old and out of date. and paying a grand for a used one is utter stupidity.  There are a lot of very stupid people trying to sell the kit for that.   Dont do it.   The index is low res and has god rays problems as well as a pronounced screen door effect.    For it's time it was great, but today it's not worth more than $350 for a full kit in perfect condition.    Plus his wife was going to murder him for spending that.

Time for an intervention,  after finding his real budget of about $250 for a headset. I set out on craigslist and FB marketplace.  specifically looking for a HTC Vive.   First gen.  Why not the HP G2?  Because that headset was killed by Microsoft.   It's dead will not work under Windows 11 it's E waste that you can not get functioning unless you build a Windows 10 PC and disable all updates.  DO NOT buy an HP G2 used, you will waste all your money. No you cant get it to work.

The choice for a cheap entry is a HTC Vive.

Wait the Vive is a 10 year old headset!  Yes. it is.  it also doesnt require stupid extra drivers and follows a standard.   It has low res screens, has god rays badly tiny in focus point i nthe middle, and a pronounced screen door effect.    All the bad things I mentioned above will annoy you.  Except you can find these with 2 lighthouses for about $125 used.   at $125-$135 this is a decent price for such an old headset.    DO NOT PAY MORE.   Let me repeat myself.   People asking more than $150 for a complete Vive setup are smoking crack.   Walk away from these idiots.  pay no more than $135 for a complete setup.   That is headset 2 controllers and 2 lighthouses with the big cable, adapter box and power supplies.  DO NOT pay more than $50 for a setup without lighthouses.  all the value is in those.  If the seller tells you only need one.  Walk away as they are lying.   If the seller says the cables are easily purchased.  WALK AWAY THEY ARE LYING.

you can find used cables for $50 hope it's not broken. you can find used Lighthouses for $100 hope those dont vibrate due to throwing a lens.  but now you are back up to the price of buying a good headset.   HTC Vive and Vive pro are E-Waste with their age. no matter what these crackhead sellers tell you it's not worth more than $135 complete. or $200 complete for a pro.

Ok what can you get cheap.    Power supplies for the lighthouses.  these are standard 12V 2A 5.1 OD barrel power supplies. but drop the price by $20 for each one missing. you will pay about $16 each.

the USB cable to the PC is a special A to A cable.  the HDMI cable is a standard one.  every cable missing  is another $20 off.  the big cable missing is $70 off.    Just a headset should be about $35 in perfect condition.  and Avoid the HTC wireless even if all the parts are there.  It's trash.

I got him one and spent 2 hours cleaning off all the kid goo and people goo.   remember people are Gross.  Windex electronics wipes.  clean everything.  if there are rubber protectors remove them and toss them. all pads need to be tossed and replaced. HTC was idiots and made everything out of a foam that sucks up people goo.  Yuck.

Ok after cleaning,  when you plug it in Steam VR will start setting things up, you may need to get the HTC vive app installed for the room setup once, and then never run it again.

Is the view awesome?  nope the Vive is low res and looks like a bug screen is in front of you.  but it's a cheap VR that will do 90hz even on a i5-8th gen and a 8 year old video card.   He's playing Elite Dangerous in VR,  MSFS, and Asseto Corsa and having a blast.   Because the Vive is so low res do not bother with correction lenses if you wear glasses,  It's better without a clear view.

But for a couple of hours and a total of $150 including a new face gasket he's enjoying PCVR and learning if it's right for him and if he will really enjoy it.  Instead of dumping a grand or more and discovering he needs a new video card, new pc, then afterwards, Oh this VR thing is not for him and tries to sell it for MSRP with the other crackheads.

It's enjoyable and is a great entry for you to test the waters cheaply.  so if you are interested,  try a used HTC vive,  just dont pay much.  Because honestly nobody is buying them at the high prices people are trying to get.

He now also has an upgrade path that is affordableish.   a HTV vive pro 2 headset only.   the lighthouses and the controllers will work with just a headset. This means he can get one for $600 ish and get a quadruple jump in video quality (Still craptastic fresnel lenses with god rays and ghosting) if he also upgrades at least to a 10th gen i7 and a 3080 video card.   still afforadable unlike anything new needs.