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Comment by stubish | Hacker News Reader

> Get a better head-strap! He mentions it in passing in the article, but 90% of the strain from wearing the Quest 2 for extended periods of time can be traced to the garbage default head-strap. You want something that properly balances the headset.

I'm very curious why I seem to have heard this exact same advice for every single headset on the market. Why does it seem endemic that headsets ship uncomfortable, fixed within days by amateurs with Velcro and tape? Why haven't manufacturers noticed that they are partly responsible for one of the major blocks to wide spread adoption?

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It’s all in the box! The standard strap is very foldable and cuts the total size down a lot. Extended wear straps make the kit much larger. I have a Quest 2, with a fancy strap and a standard carry case and they don’t really work together. The simple strap is also easier to adjust.

The Quest 2 was heavily optimized for reduced cost since otherwise, VR is a very expensive hobby to get into. Before the Quest, you had to buy a $600 headset AND a $1500+ gaming PC if you didn't already have one if you wanted to get into VR.

As it is, I imagine at $300, Facebook is likely losing money on the sale of each headset.

High-end headsets like the Valve Index come with a very good strap. There's no need to mod it or get an aftermarket one because the stock one is already very comfortable and balances the weight on your head very well. But the full kit is $1,000 and requires a gaming PC.

Unfortunately, Immersed doesn't appear to run on the Index. I had a lot of funds in my steam wallet and purchased one and am about to go pickup the Oculus in a bit. Will be fun to compare and contrast the 2 ecosystems

For most people the stock strap is good enough. I spend a lot of time in VR and never even considered replacing the strap.

Better headstraps are bigger, bulkier, and more expensive. In a market that competes on price, it's most efficient to have the basic version in the box and then charge for upgrades.

Plus, this also allows you to grow your market share by not excluding people that can't quite afford the better version of the headset.

They make money from selling the better head strap, the Quest 2 elite strap is $50 extra.

I think the Vive Focus 3 has learned this lesson, and ships with what looks to be a very serviceable strap.

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