You may well have heard of Oculus VR’s Oculus Ready PC Programme. This new concept was first announced back at the Oculus Connect 2 developer conference in September last year and was kicked into action earlier this week. Essentially it’s a set of rigs that meet the recommended specifications for the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) and even come bundled with a unit. Valve and HTC are adopting a similar initiative for its upcoming HMD, the HTC Vive, with its own line of PCs. Today, the company has revealed which manufacturers it has partnered with for its offerings.

The newly updated product page for the HTC Vive includes descriptions for rigs from HP, Alienware and MSI. HP’s options start at $1,699.99 USD for the HP ENVY Phoenix 860-170VR and also include the $1999.99 HP ENVY Phoenix 860-170VX. MSI’s offerings don’t seem to be listed just yet, and the same goes for Alienware. Note, however, that these PCs will not also include a HTC Vive unit itself. They also carry the previously-mentioned ‘VR Certified’ branding, setting them apart from Oculus Ready PCs, but not tying them exclusively to the HTC Vive in association.

The HTC Vive itself costs some $799, so consumers could be looking at around $2,400 if they were looking to buy the VR setup and a rig to run it on. Pre-orders for the device will go live at 10:00 EST on 29th February 2016, with first shipments taking place on 1st April. All units will include two position-tracked controllers and two Lighthouse tracking stations to enable Room Scale VR. For comparison, the Oculus Rift’s pre-orders have already launched, cost $599, and will be shipping on 28th March. The kit does not, however, include its upcoming position-tracked controllers, Oculus Touch.

Stay tuned to VRFocus for the latest updates on the HTC Vive.

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The post HP, Alienware and MSI Partner with HTC to Offer Vive-Ready PCs appeared first on VRFocus.

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