 A month ago I tried the Vive pre, a developer version of HTC and Valve's virtual reality headset. I called it unfinished and incredibly fun, and I've been looking forward to the consumer version ever since. Now I finally got it in my hands, and it's just as much fun. But it still doesn't feel finished. The Vive's gotten more polished since it was first announced last year, but it's not a pretty piece of hardware. The finished headset's almost identical to the Vive pre, which is to say it's big, front heavy and sort of industrial looking. The pre had a couple of issues that seemed totally fixable, like the fact that its foam face mask soaks up sweat like a sponge. But don't expect that to change on the Vive. Of course, all the good things about the pre are here too. The Vive blocks out most light unless you're looking straight down your nose, and it's not too uncomfortable once you get used to its size, although it's notably less comfortable than the Oculus Rift. Unlike the Rift, the Vive doesn't come with built-in earphones. It does include a pair of earbuds you can plug in, but you'll probably want to use your own. Setting up the Vive involves a lot more than just plugging it in. The Vive uses your computer's HDMI and USB ports, just like the Oculus Rift. But in between your PC and your headset, there's a link box that needs plugged into a power outlet. And then there are the lighthouses, two laser towers the Vive uses to detect its position. So we're going to hope that this doesn't overbalance, and I'm just going to try to put this tape on here to, I don't know, add a fig leaf of protection. The lighthouses are set up diagonally across the space you want to use, anywhere from a box that's just big enough to stand up in to a 15 by 15 foot room. They don't need to be connected to your computer, but they do need their own power supply. So hopefully you've either got lots of outlets or lots of extension cords. Once you've got all this done, you're ready to set up SteamVR, a tool in Valve's Steam gaming platform. Given how complicated the Vive is, SteamVR is good at giving you feedback about what's working. You can always see what's connected right on the dashboard, and there's a simple calibration process that's even sort of fun. And actually, wait, I forgot to run room setup. For room scale experiences, you trace around the entire play space with a motion controller, and SteamVR sets up chaperone lines to match it. That went pretty smoothly for the Vive. It was very smooth for the Vive. This all takes some time, but it's worth it. As long as you're also fine paying $800 plus the cost of a gaming PC. When everything works, the Vive is the best experience you can have in VR right this minute. The screen is a little grainy, but that's true of every headset. The field of view feels shaped a little different from Oculus's, but different doesn't mean worse here. And the laser towers are incredibly forgiving. As long as they're above you and pointed towards you, they track almost perfectly. A front-facing camera can show you a rough outline of the outside world at the press of a button, or whenever you move outside the Vive's boundaries. That's all great, but there's one thing that really sets the Vive apart. Right now, it's just about the only headset that lets you move around in VR. You can use normal gamepads or a mouse and keyboard with the Vive, but most experiences are based around a pair of motion controllers that fit in your hands like remote controls. I've got a few issues with them, like the fact that it's way too easy to hit the home button under the trackpad. But these fade away after you've used the controllers for a while. They're also incredibly solid, which is good because even if you never accidentally throw them across the room in a game of VR tennis, you'll probably whack the wall or some furniture at least a couple of times. Inside VR, Valve has set up a lot of features. You've got a full version of Steam, plus the ability to see your computer desktop, and set a custom environment all around you. The fact that Valve already has a ready-made platform is a huge benefit here. There are already tons of people playing, modding, and selling a wide variety of games on Steam. The downside is that this can make everything sort of complicated. Your settings are spread out over lots of different menus, and SteamVR itself still has plenty of glitches. If you're already used to Steam, it's not too hard to figure things out, but it's not a friendly system for newcomers. Which is too bad because the Vive shakes up all the usual stereotypes about PC gaming. It features creative non-gaming tools like Tilt Brush and Virtual Desktop, plus non-traditional games like AudioShield, where you defend yourself against the notes of your favorite songs. Game controls can feel incredibly fresh and intuitive, and they support a huge number of different experiences. You can shoot guns at zombies, or you can solve plumbing puzzles to make tiny alien bears happy. There's something for almost everyone, it can just be hard to find. It can also be hard to find games and tools that aren't rough, experimental, or very short. This is okay at first, especially because you'll probably want to take breaks every hour or so. Standing up and walking around is more tiring than sitting in a chair. But after a while, I wanted something more substantial, and my favorite experiences were clearly unfinished ones. The Vive is where you go for cutting edge virtual reality, at least for the next few months. But that also means that nobody has figured out exactly what to do with it, whether you're talking about specific games and apps, or its whole user experience. By the time it's polished, the Vive's going to be competing with Oculus, which will support a lot of the same titles later this year. But for an early adopter's headset, the Vive does everything it ought to. It's flexible, functional, available, and often incredible. Oh god, what did I do? If you want to compare the HTC Vive with the Oculus Rift, you can check out our Oculus Rift review. If you just want to see more of our experiences with the Vive, you can also check out our preview of the Vive Pre.
 A month ago I tried the Vive pre, a developer version of HTC and Valve's virtual reality
 headset.
 I called it unfinished and incredibly fun, and I've been looking forward to the consumer
 version ever since.
 Now I finally got it in my hands, and it's just as much fun.
 But it still doesn't feel finished.
 The Vive's gotten more polished since it was first announced last year, but it's not a
 pretty piece of hardware.
 The finished headset's almost identical to the Vive pre, which is to say it's big, front
 heavy and sort of industrial looking.
 The pre had a couple of issues that seemed totally fixable, like the fact that its foam
 face mask soaks up sweat like a sponge.
 But don't expect that to change on the Vive.
 Of course, all the good things about the pre are here too.
 The Vive blocks out most light unless you're looking straight down your nose, and it's
 not too uncomfortable once you get used to its size, although it's notably less comfortable
 than the Oculus Rift.
 Unlike the Rift, the Vive doesn't come with built-in earphones.
 It does include a pair of earbuds you can plug in, but you'll probably want to use your
 own.
 Setting up the Vive involves a lot more than just plugging it in.
 The Vive uses your computer's HDMI and USB ports, just like the Oculus Rift.
 But in between your PC and your headset, there's a link box that needs plugged into a power
 outlet.
 And then there are the lighthouses, two laser towers the Vive uses to detect its position.
 So we're going to hope that this doesn't overbalance, and I'm just going to try to
 put this tape on here to, I don't know, add a fig leaf of protection.
 The lighthouses are set up diagonally across the space you want to use, anywhere from a
 box that's just big enough to stand up in to a 15 by 15 foot room.
 They don't need to be connected to your computer, but they do need their own power supply.
 So hopefully you've either got lots of outlets or lots of extension cords.
 Once you've got all this done, you're ready to set up SteamVR, a tool in Valve's Steam
 gaming platform.
 Given how complicated the Vive is, SteamVR is good at giving you feedback about what's
 working.
 You can always see what's connected right on the dashboard, and there's a simple calibration
 process that's even sort of fun.
 And actually, wait, I forgot to run room setup.
 For room scale experiences, you trace around the entire play space with a motion controller,
 and SteamVR sets up chaperone lines to match it.
 That went pretty smoothly for the Vive.
 It was very smooth for the Vive.
 This all takes some time, but it's worth it.
 As long as you're also fine paying $800 plus the cost of a gaming PC.
 When everything works, the Vive is the best experience you can have in VR right this minute.
 The screen is a little grainy, but that's true of every headset.
 The field of view feels shaped a little different from Oculus's, but different doesn't mean
 worse here.
 And the laser towers are incredibly forgiving.
 As long as they're above you and pointed towards you, they track almost perfectly.
 A front-facing camera can show you a rough outline of the outside world at the press
 of a button, or whenever you move outside the Vive's boundaries.
 That's all great, but there's one thing that really sets the Vive apart.
 Right now, it's just about the only headset that lets you move around in VR.
 You can use normal gamepads or a mouse and keyboard with the Vive, but most experiences
 are based around a pair of motion controllers that fit in your hands like remote controls.
 I've got a few issues with them, like the fact that it's way too easy to hit the home
 button under the trackpad.
 But these fade away after you've used the controllers for a while.
 They're also incredibly solid, which is good because even if you never accidentally throw
 them across the room in a game of VR tennis, you'll probably whack the wall or some furniture
 at least a couple of times.
 Inside VR, Valve has set up a lot of features.
 You've got a full version of Steam, plus the ability to see your computer desktop, and
 set a custom environment all around you.
 The fact that Valve already has a ready-made platform is a huge benefit here.
 There are already tons of people playing, modding, and selling a wide variety of games
 on Steam.
 The downside is that this can make everything sort of complicated.
 Your settings are spread out over lots of different menus, and SteamVR itself still
 has plenty of glitches.
 If you're already used to Steam, it's not too hard to figure things out, but it's not
 a friendly system for newcomers.
 Which is too bad because the Vive shakes up all the usual stereotypes about PC gaming.
 It features creative non-gaming tools like Tilt Brush and Virtual Desktop, plus non-traditional
 games like AudioShield, where you defend yourself against the notes of your favorite songs.
 Game controls can feel incredibly fresh and intuitive, and they support a huge number
 of different experiences.
 You can shoot guns at zombies, or you can solve plumbing puzzles to make tiny alien
 bears happy.
 There's something for almost everyone, it can just be hard to find.
 It can also be hard to find games and tools that aren't rough, experimental, or very
 short.
 This is okay at first, especially because you'll probably want to take breaks every
 hour or so.
 Standing up and walking around is more tiring than sitting in a chair.
 But after a while, I wanted something more substantial, and my favorite experiences were
 clearly unfinished ones.
 The Vive is where you go for cutting edge virtual reality, at least for the next few
 months.
 But that also means that nobody has figured out exactly what to do with it, whether you're
 talking about specific games and apps, or its whole user experience.
 By the time it's polished, the Vive's going to be competing with Oculus, which will support
 a lot of the same titles later this year.
 But for an early adopter's headset, the Vive does everything it ought to.
 It's flexible, functional, available, and often incredible.
 Oh god, what did I do?
 If you want to compare the HTC Vive with the Oculus Rift, you can check out our Oculus
 Rift review.
 If you just want to see more of our experiences with the Vive, you can also check out our
 preview of the Vive Pre.