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Comment by blixt | Hacker News Reader

I wonder how the reactions to this headset will play out. It's obviously going to be relatively clunky compared to expectations given that it's the first version. The marketing material doesn't really show the hassle of using a cable / separate battery. The battery only lasts 2 hours. There will not be many apps or they will be low quality. It'll probably be a bit front-heavy from all that glass.

Anyway, I got one for myself because I'm really excited about developing for it, and also seeing how productive one can be working with the headset on (I was already pretty impressed with using virtual screens for my MacBook with keyboard passthrough in the Quest).

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Have many people here used the quest as a virtual multi monitor setup, any advice/recommendations?

Quest 3, the DPI looks somewhat similar to a non-retina Apple display.

It felt really futuristic to log into my office computer from a synthesized apartment via Virtual Desktop. The latency was fine for typing. Even YouTube video/audio was bearable. But the device itself is still too heavy. The fixed lens system can't be good for your eyes.

Apple Vision Pro is even heavier. Even as a hardcore VR fan I cannot imagine the current generation hardware to be useful in productivity tasks.

What is the main cause of the heavy weight? Battery? Auxiliary hardware?

I wonder if those could moved to some package attached to e.g. your waist and connected via cable. If done right it shouldn't be too irritating.

I attempted with the Quest 2 and it was far from doing the job well. Resolution is too low, optics too poor, headset too heavy and uncomfortable, battery too small. I’ve heard Quest 3 is better, but I am still very skeptical that the Vision Pro could be an all day device and replacement for a multi monitor setup. Possibly in a few years there will be a dedicated device for just virtual monitors designed for all day working. Xreal’s product is close but still very early adopter.

Not specific to the Quest, but potentially of use to some:

I've done it with a Valve Index and an HTC Vive Pro. I configured a virtual room with huge screens on the walls.

It worked OK. I wished the DPI was higher, but huge screens farther away from my head worked well enough to use Visual Studio, etc.

The issue I had was eye strain and headaches. This was with snap-in vision correcting lenses for the Vive Pro.

I could do a full 8 hour day, but had a low-key headache and dry eyes the rest of the day.

Used one myself with Immersed, I’m a single screen guy so it wasn’t worth it for me. Works pretty well though no major complaints.

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