HTC Vive now $200 cheaper in the U.S.

The HTC Vive has just received a permanent $200 price cut in the US, taking the cost of purchasing the VR headset down to US$599. The move by HTC aligns with a US$200 price cut that Oculus gave its Rift VR headset back in March. Although still $100 more than the Oculus Rift and Touch controller bundle, HTC Vive has still proved popular with both critics and consumers with many arguing it offers a better overall VR experience. The US$599 asking price also includes a free one-month subscription to VIVEPORT app store, while free software bundled includes Google Tilt Brush, Everest VR and Richie’s Plank Experience. Two wireless controllers and two base stations are also included.

“We want to really significantly boost VR adoption now across the globe,” Vive US general manager Dan O’Brien said. “We think now is the right time to reset the price.” For those wondering if this means that HTC might have a Vive 2.0 in the wings and ready to ship, O’Brien countered that the price cut had nothing to do with clearing inventory as the company plans to keep this unit on the market well into 2018. While the price cut is good for the consumer model, the US$1200 HTC Vive Business Edition will continue to be sold at its original asking price. This model is sold to arcades, with the HTC Vive US boss claiming that 60-70 percent of the of 4,000 to 5,000 Chinese arcades offering a VR experience choose the Vive over the Oculus Rift.

The HTC Vive utilizes a dual AMOLED 3.6-inch display with a 1080 x 1200 resolution per eye (2160 x 1200 pixels combined). The refresh rate is 90 Hz, while its field of view is 110 degrees. Its biggest advantage over the Oculus Rift is that if offers the ability to scale up the user experience t a 15-foot x 15-foot room-scale stage. Like the Rift, though, it requires a reasonably powerful PC set-up. Your PC will need an Intel Core i5-4590 CPU or AMD FX 8350 CPU and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU or an AMD Radeon RX 480 GPU to keep things ticking over smoothly.

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