HTC has announced that it has effectively ended shipping delay problems faced by purchasers of Vive VR headsets. The ironing out of these important production/distribution issues means that the HTC Vive is the only high-end virtual reality headset that you can simply buy, rather than pre-order. In addition to the pledged faster despatch, the Vive is now said to be purchasable directly from over 100 retail locations throughout the US.
From now on if you purchase an HTC Vive headset from www.vive.com it is promised that your hardware will ship within two to three business days. "There are a few feelings you can expect when you click the order button for your Vive—irrational excitement (well, we would actually call that level of excitement completely rational), anticipation, curiosity. What we do not want you feeling is uncertainty over when your Vive will be shipped," explains the HTC Vive blog. Indeed it isn't a great feeling to lay down around $800 and wait for an indeterminable amount of time for your product to be despatched.
For those who would prefer to buy an HTC Vive in a bricks and mortar store and live/are visiting the US then there is more good news. HTC says that over 100 US retail locations have Vive HMDs "available to purchase," for your immediate tech retail gratification. Microsoft Stores, GameStop and Micro Center are the particular partner retailers. To find your nearest store you can simply scroll down the HTC Vive homepage to the 'Vive Near You' section.
In the UK there are 3x PC World stores in London, Overclockers UK and Scan Computers listed as retail stores with demos only available at this time. Scan, for example, report that purchasable stock is due on 30th June.
As HTC makes this announcement, indicating it is fully geared up for shifting some volume of its HMDs, the rival Oculus Rift hardware is still listed as pre-order-only for expected August delivery (1 per customer). The Oculus Rift is approx $100 cheaper but is reportedly less immersive (lacking room-scale tracking) and there may be further delays faced by those who wish to buy Oculus Touch controllers rather than the Xbox One console gamepad currently bundled.
The HTC Vive VR headset is available to purchase from Scan Computers.
