If you’ve been looking around the web for a HTC Vive, you’ve probably met with a big ‘sold out’ sign recently in the US; Amazon, Best Buy, New Egg, and even HTC’s own website have been out of stock for a while now. That’s set to change in a few weeks, a HTC spokesperson told us.
“We are committed to the original Vive and expect to return to normal inventory levels in a few weeks. We ran into a supply constraint on a key component, which should abate shortly. The Vive continues to perform well in the market and we believe represents the best consumer VR headset in the market,” the HTC spokeperson told Road to VR.
One of the few US-based consumers to still offer HTC Vive at the $500 MSRP is Dell.com. You can still find the headset offered by third-party vendors on Amazon sites in the EU and North America, albeit well above the $500/€600/£500 MSRP.
European retailers seem to still be in stock, at least directly from HTC’s European and UK sites, and some of the larger online sites such as Germany’s MediaMarkt and the UK’s Curry’s PC World.
The full package includes two SteamVR base stations, two Vive motion controllers, the headset, and all necessary accessories such as chargers and cabling. Purchase of a Vive currently includes a free copy of Final Soccer VR (2016) and a two-month subscription to Viveport, the company’s monthly game subscription service.
The Vive’s biggest competitor, Oculus Rift, currently sells for $400 for the full kit and caboodle, which includes a number of free games such as Dead and Buried (2016), Oculus Medium (2016), Quill (2016), Robo Recall (2016), and Lucky’s Tale (2016).
A Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headset is decidedly the best deal for prospective PC VR headset owners at $205 for an HP Windows MR headset and controller bundle.
If you’re still waiting for Vive stocks to replenish in your area, first check to see if your computer is up to snuff by downloading the ‘Vive Check’ software, or alternatively Valve’s SteamVR Performance Test.