1 hour ago, jfri said:

Have you used HP Reverb G2 so you can compare it with Q3 and PCL ?

I understand that in both cases two new products need to be purchased for both Q3 and PCL. Which are these ? How does the final prices end up to ? I see stock Q3 is cheaper than PCL

Yes, my first VR headset was the Reverb before MSFS2020 or VR were even twinkles in Microsoft's eye.  I had the earlier version in X-plane 11 and then upgraded to the G2 when that became available.

And I stuck with the G2 until Microsoft did the dirty on its customer base (I seem to remember that they actively promoted the G2 as the perfect companion in MSFS2020 when they finally introduced VR to it - and then, having encouraged folks to buy it, then removed the ability to use it by removing WMR.  I think there's a phrase used in the commercial world for that...)

And, though new VR headset offerings were always a temptation, I would still be using the Reverb G2 if they hadn't done that.  My brother-in-law, who I fly VR multiplayer with, still has Windows 10 and is still very happy with his Reverb G2. 

My view - but this also all depends on other factors such as PC spec, type of flying, etc, etc - is:

- The biggest difference is actually a subtle one.  With all of the available resolution tweaks available, you can get the Reverb - in its small sweetspot - to very close to the same resolution and clarity.  But it is a very small sweetspot.  But the big 'but' is...if you ONLY use the Reverb, you instinctively move your head around the cockpit and so whatever you want to look at is in the sweetspot area.  With the Quest 3 and especially with the PCL, you can keep you head still and be able to read clearly instruments, etc, by moving your eyes around and not your head.  In the real world, we tend to do a bit of both...and which is broadly what I do when I'm flying in either of those two headsets.  But I shouldn't underestimate the second factor - that with that small defined sweetspot of the G2, it is much less true to life that with the Quest 3 and PCL.  And for the 'VR makes you feel like you are there' factor, this is no small advantage.

- the field of view is a little bit bigger in Quest and PCL versus the G2 but, again, that depends.  Put a thicker but more comfortable face pad on and, inevitably, some of that field of view is reduced.

But it all depends.  It depends on: your computing power; what you are flying; your eyesight; your priorities in a sim; your willingness or knowledge to tweak settings; etc;etc;etc  

Edited September 5, 2025Sep 5 by AJZip2

Pimax customer complaints of receiving a faulty headset (bad lenses, out of alignment lenses) are common. Not so with the Quest brand of headsets. My PCL was good to go and had no issues. To me the image quality with PCL is way better than with the HP G2. Better and snappier colors. Clarity in the far distance view. Ability to read gauges that are far away or in dim light. Plastic fresnel lenses (HP Reverb G2) are the lowest quality. The lenses on a Pimax are glass aspheric, like you see on a good 1990's 35 milometer camera. Q3 are plastic, but pancake lenses, not fresnel. But very high quality. And they are the best lenses of any VR headset. The Pimax type of lenses are solid one piece. But pancake lenses are use compounded elements and the light is bending around from one element to another. I don't know if I am explaining that well. So there are less aberrations if the lenses are aligned properly with each other and with the screen. 

For anyone with medium quality computer, the Q3 is the best choice because VR headsets are feeding an enormous amount of pixels.. But not if you have say a 4070 ti super, 4080 or 4090. I have a 4070 (not ti, not super), so it could be a tie between the Q3 and PCL. and 5800X3D. 

 

9 minutes ago, Fielder said:

Pimax customer complaints of receiving a faulty headset (bad lenses, out of alignment lenses) are common.....

 

That summarizes why I have held back on a PCL purchase.

 

That and the unclear stand regarding online activation / de-activation (???)

Edited September 5, 2025Sep 5 by John-Allen

Right around 6:00 he talks about binocular overlap. This is important for people with very wide or very narrow set eyes. The depth perception is less for people with un normal distance between the two eyes. And also it induces a sort of queezy feeling, sort of like motion sickness. In the video he states what your IPD should be if using the Q3 (because the Q3 traded away some binocular overlap in order to gain a wider field of view. Pimax goes the other way with more binocular overlap, which is always a good thing, but it does reduce field of view. The big Pimax asperical lenses don't need help for a wide field of view, which is why Pimax made that choice. 

It is sometimes said that the Q3 has the best lenses. Because the edge to edge sharpness is outstanding. But the screen is not nearly as good as the Pimax one (which makes for better color and contrast and brightness). The Pimax lenses also produce better sharpness than the Q3, but not better edge to edge uniform sharpness. 

Dollar for dollar, it's hard to beat the Q3. And if the computer has modest hardware, it might be fair to say that it's the only reasonable choice. 

with my PCL, you have to be online to activate the headset. But then it stays activated for several months and you don't have to redo it. But every 4 months or so you have to activate it again. Activation is just entering your email address and password while you are online. 

2 hours ago, Fielder said:

Pimax customer complaints of receiving a faulty headset (bad lenses, out of alignment lenses) are common. Not so with the Quest brand of headsets. My PCL was good to go and had no issues. To me the image quality with PCL is way better than with the HP G2. Better and snappier colors. Clarity in the far distance view. Ability to read gauges that are far away or in dim light. Plastic fresnel lenses (HP Reverb G2) are the lowest quality. The lenses on a Pimax are glass aspheric, like you see on a good 1990's 35 milometer camera. Q3 are plastic, but pancake lenses, not fresnel. But very high quality. And they are the best lenses of any VR headset. The Pimax type of lenses are solid one piece. But pancake lenses are use compounded elements and the light is bending around from one element to another. I don't know if I am explaining that well. So there are less aberrations if the lenses are aligned properly with each other and with the screen. 

For anyone with medium quality computer, the Q3 is the best choice because VR headsets are feeding an enormous amount of pixels.. But not if you have say a 4070 ti super, 4080 or 4090. I have a 4070 (not ti, not super), so it could be a tie between the Q3 and PCL. and 5800X3D. 

 

Regarding faulty PCL headsets. Have they not improved on this ? Is this still an issue ?

Regarding feeding an enormous amount of pixels I suppose we are talking about performance. Should not the PCL have a definite advantage in being directly connected to the GPU displayport. The Q3 is wireless and should not that pose a problem with performance ? Actually the Q3 is a stand alone headset with its own processors. So how does it work when connected to a PC ? Are the PC GPU used and the data from the GPU sent to the Q3 ? Or is another form of data sent and the Quest processor works on that.

Also have seen stated that in the Reverb G2 sweetspot the picture is better than Q3. Is it so ?

I don't know if the Pimax quality control has improved or not.

Yes not being directly connected hurts the Q3 performance. But the bottom line is that running a Q3 will still give better performance (better fps, fewer stutters) than the PCL. This is not just an opinion because people with both headsets run YT videos showing this. 

I don't know enough to comment how the picture gets sent to the Q3, how much additional processing is required or what type. But everyone agrees that artifacts are introduced with this processing and degrades the image.

I'm guessing the G2 sweet spot is sharper/cleaner than the Q3. The G2 is a little better than the PCL (I have used both of these 2 headsets). But the overall clarity and sharpness is worlds better on the PCL than the G2.

I sold my G2 on eBay and bought the PCL. I was astonished at my first look through the PCL, how clear and sharp everything was compared to G2. But I had not removed the plastic film from the PCL lenses (it was clear, not blue, I didn't know it was there). When I removed it the astonishment increased!

2 hours ago, Fielder said:

with my PCL, you have to be online to activate the headset. But then it stays activated for several months and you don't have to redo it. But every 4 months or so you have to activate it again. Activation is just entering your email address and password while you are online. 

So if China closes trade, or pimax goes belly-up or unfriendly ; after 4 months your PCL is toast ?

In one of his videos, VRFlightSimGuy said for pure sightseeing from the outside view in MSFS (as opposed to the cockpit view), nothing beats the Q3. This is because of the sharpness at the edges, all across the entire field of view (because of the super high quality pancake lenses). But this was before the 2nd version of the BigScreen Beyond and other even more expensive super headsets that came later. They are even better, but cost maybe 4 or 5 times as much. 

The Q3 has mura (cloudyness) because it is not displayport connected, and needs processing which degrades the picture. And it has screendoor effect because of the relatively lower resolution compared to the PCL. These are not real serious however. When I had my Q2, the screendoor effect was not something I noticed when flying except when looking for it. 

some of my nice astonishment with the great image in the PCL was probably because of the larger binocular overlap. In other words, the snappiness of the 3D effect. The wonder of the 3D was increased. But my eyes are wider than normal apart which was probably the reason. I needed more overlap and most people do not.

6 hours ago, John-Allen said:

So if China closes trade, or pimax goes belly-up or unfriendly ; after 4 months your PCL is toast ?

Yes, it could be. But Pimax might just decide to do away with authentication if they are closing down their operations. You do not have to be online for any Pimax headset to run. Only for updates to the software and authentication would anyone need Pimax to have a presence online. I don't see it as much of a worry.

I would not buy a Pimax headset from a vendor that isn't known to be friendly about returns. Amazon has a great return policy for instance. Meta has much better record for only selling headsets that are in good condition.

Edited September 6, 2025Sep 6 by Fielder

17 hours ago, Fielder said:

I would not buy a Pimax headset from a vendor that isn't known to be friendly about returns. Amazon has a great return policy for instance. Meta has much better record for only selling headsets that are in good condition.

And I see that Amazon sell the Quest 3. The product is presented with a bundle of with headstarp and cable.
Are these accesories what is needed to get acceptable comfort ?
https://www.amazon.se/Meta-Quest-Oculus-899-00586-01-VR-headset/dp/B09N24BHKQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HZDK3VB5869V&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kiWaASpe9tOjbfgxVs0BX-tCWuuh-D0AzKsFuFqOK7TIGbtiwcOCZ1PCDDykM7xZAtnlqletByASeA-EBQJrT3RSNefw6n93tzH-cyeF7S4.Ah1nSqeAcsxFyfGKThNi79687bQc2_E0K6z_-86rN1g&dib_tag=se&keywords=vr%2Bheadset&qid=1757194630&refinements=p_n_condition-type%3A21286835031%2Cp_123%3A1885713&rnid=91049078031&s=electronics&sprefix=VR%2Celectronics%2C83&sr=1-1&th=1

One more question about the Q3. How is the microphone. Read som complaint about it. If bad it could be a problem using Voiceattack