Samsung's Gear VR Now Available for Sale at Best Buy (Online Only)

[cr6]

Again, ALL new tech is going to cost. We see it every single year. Look at the price of the 4K tv's when they came out, compared to today. To be "surprised" at the cost at this early stage in the game is ....well, c'mon.... really?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Again, ALL new tech is going to cost. We see it every single year. Look at the price of the 4K tv's when they came out, compared to today. To be "surprised" at the cost at this early stage in the game is ....well, c'mon.... really?

Comparing 4k tv's isn't really a good comparison. 4k resolution is an improvement on tech that's already proven itself. The number of households without at least 1 hdtv is ever shrinking. We have 3 & don't even use one.

This is brand new tech. To get people to adopt it, there has to be a balance between covering development costs & making it affordable enough that you can sell them like crazy.

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[FoxKat]

Again, ALL new tech is going to cost. We see it every single year. Look at the price of the 4K tv's when they came out, compared to today. To be "surprised" at the cost at this early stage in the game is ....well, c'mon.... really?

I agree with you that new technology is more expensive for the earlier adopters, but didn't Google come out with Google cardboard at a ridiculously cheap price and demonstrate this concept before the Gear VR came out?

I guess my biggest issue here (aside from price), is that it was introduced as proprietary hardware for one specific phone from one specific manufacturer, when in fact it could have easily been made to work with many. This was my biggest complaint regarding Apple and all of the accessories for the Apple iPhone and iPod.

With the introduction of this device, they've precluded anyone that doesn't buy their Note 4 from having the opportunity to enjoy that experience. So it's not just a 200 dollar investment for the gear VR but ALSO another $800 investment for the Note 4 to go with it for anyone other than those who already own the Note 4 or were were contemplating buying it anyway.

Personally I'd rather take the path that has many avenues rather than the one that is simply narrow and leads to one single destination. This was the impetus for myself, and dare I say most Android phone users for making the choice to go Android vs Apple in the first place.

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[Ollie]

It's more than just a piece of plastic with a headband strap slapped on it. It's licensing fees, R&D pricing. $200 is 30 Big Mac meals.

 

[FoxKat]

It's more than just a piece of plastic with a headband strap slapped on it. It's licensing fees, R&D pricing. $200 is 30 Big Mac meals.

I agree, & I was using that analogy facetiously, please accept my apology if it insulted anyone. Truth is though, I don't eat at McDonalds and wouldn't waste my money on that food anyway. I don't have the luxury of eating out every night whether it be at a fast food restaurant or a classy joint.

If anyone on here knew how hard I struggle every month just to make my bills, they wouldn't question why I was so concerned about a $200 price tag for this device. But obviously I haven't bought one nor have I spent the money on one of the lesser experience, lower priced versions either, so that may be some indication of whether I'm even their target market.

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[Jonny Kansas]

Same here. A part of my reaction to the price is the sadness that I can't afford it. Haha! I'd love to check it out for sure, but I only own the g watch because the sale price I got on it was equal to the bonus I got from work for Christmas.

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[Ollie]

I agree, & I was using that analogy facetiously, please accept my apology if it insulted anyone. Truth is though, I don't eat at McDonalds and wouldn't waste my money on that food anyway. I don't have the luxury of eating out every night whether it be at a fast food restaurant or a classy joint.

If anyone on here knew how hard I struggle every month just to make my bills, they wouldn't question why I was so concerned about a $200 price tag for this device. But obviously I haven't bought one nor have I spent the money on one of the lesser experience, lower priced versions either, so that may be some indication of whether I'm even their target market.

Sent from my Droid Turbo on Tapatalk.

I find the price rediculous as well. The Big Mac comment was to put it into a different perspective.

I'll bundle this product in with things like a smart watch. It would be cool to have, but I personally have no use for it.

 

[cr6]

That's all I was doing, making a point. New tech costs big for early adopters, whether it's brand new tech or updated tech. The price always comes down regardless of how well it does. Unless your name is Google (cough* Google glass*cough)...You still charge 1500 bucks for a product that never really took off. LOL
Regardless, points well made. I won't be buying one anytime soon either, but I do look forward to this technology and where it goes.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I just fear with the device specific design, it'll be abandoned before I get a chance to afford one. Haha! As always, maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I'll be watching to see if the prices drops faster than development for the device, because that's the more important side of this to me.

If the device is truly awesome and/or revolutionary, it won't matter one bit if the content doesn't exist/expand.

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[cr6]

True. But I can't imagine Samsung & UR being two huge companies, can't work together to eventually make this setup work with at least future Samsung devices. (Sorry Moto!) [emoji2]
This is one of those technologies where you'll want to wait for round two anyways.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

But I hate waiting for round 2! Haha

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[FoxKat]

I find the price rediculous as well. The Big Mac comment was to put it into a different perspective.

I'll bundle this product in with things like a smart watch. It would be cool to have, but I personally have no use for it.

So I guess I misunderstood the Big Mac comment but again I didn't intend to offend anyone with my opinions so I want to make that clear.

When comparing the Gear VR with a smart watch (like the Moto 360 on my wrist), one is mainly for entertainment and requires full concentration, and at least at this point provides no real life benefits to me whereas this watch does assist me in being more efficient in my daily tasks. I was able to justify the watch, not to mention it works with any Android phone.

Everything has a cost/benefit price point where you will get a certain demographic to pull the trigger on it. If you raise the price point you will generally reduce or even eliminate the number of a demographic who pull the trigger sooner, and the reverse is generally true as well. There are exceptions where perceived value plays a role and if the price is too low it can be perceived as being cheap and not worth even the nominal investment.

I have been in manufacturing and also did the marketing for products, as well as having been on the front line of sales and so witnessed the reactions of consumers to virtually the same product from several different manufacturers. If given the choice between the least expensive and most expensive of a group of similarly performing products people will often migrate to a mid-priced item due to a perceived greater value, but perhaps even more striking they often avoid the lowest priced item altogether, simply for fear of lower quality, lower value, or being "cheap".

Then if course there's the demographic who feels price is indicative of quality and they demand the highest quality and so will choose the premium priced product. Finally there are those who do the research and look for true performance over price to achieve the most efficient value within an affordable range. I tend to be in the last group.

Thing is, if there is only one choice that tends to drive away people like me. Just saying.

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[bsweetness]

Well I don't think were that far part in the agree versus disagree arena. In fact I agree with you that there is a likely possibility that the gear device provides the better experience than the others as mentioned. I actually haven't experienced any of them personally so therefore I don't really have a basis for which to draw an opinion regarding quality or performance or any of that. Where I tend to be in disagreement with you is in the justification for the higher cost. In other words, does it demand a price that's four five six or more times as expensive as 1 that performs fairly well?

And again, I have to take the stand that Samsung could easily have made this compatible with other phones and if nothing else even at the same price would have had a greater market share and probably would have made a bigger dent in the potential customer base going forward. As it is, I don't have $200 to drop on a piece of plastic with a couple of lenses and maybe a touch pad and volume control. I do however have maybe 20 or 30 bucks that I could drop on one that gets me near to the experience of what the gear might.

Also of course even if I wanted to get the gear experience I can't have it because I don't own the Note 4. So back to my original point, they blew it IMHO..

I agree with you that new technology is more expensive for the earlier adopters, but didn't Google come out with Google cardboard at a ridiculously cheap price and demonstrate this concept before the Gear VR came out?

I guess my biggest issue here (aside from price), is that it was introduced as proprietary hardware for one specific phone from one specific manufacturer, when in fact it could have easily been made to work with many.

While I agree that multi-device support would have garnered a greater market share, I don't think that's necessarily what Samsung is going for here. The current version of the Gear VR is called the "Innovator Edition" after all. It's meant to be a more limited device.

It seems to that Samsung is really trying to get things right early on with the Gear VR rather than go through several sub-par versions (which Samsung has a history of doing). I believe that a large part of the reason for making it only compatible with the Note 4 is a consistent platform on which to start development and to build a consistent user experience. We have to keep in mind that this is a first generation product that is going to have to work through a lot of kinks and issues, and limiting support to one device makes it easier to address those issues. It's only one resolution that the software has to take into account, and only one basic internal hardware configuration to build for. They can also deliver a consistent experience for users, something that other VR products that use different phones can't do. There's always little quirks that pop up with different phones and different hardware configurations. To me it makes sense to test a first generation product out on a smaller user base

As they develop the technology and working out bugs, support for an increased range of devices won't be an issue. In fact, I'd be shocked if the Gear VR 2 doesn't support more than one device. But in order to start things on the right foot, focusing on compatibility with a single device makes sense to me. It offers an opportunity to work out the issues and develop the platform without having a massive user base to support.

This was my biggest complaint regarding Apple and all of the accessories for the Apple iPhone and iPod.

With the introduction of this device, they've precluded anyone that doesn't buy their Note 4 from having the opportunity to enjoy that experience. So it's not just a 200 dollar investment for the gear VR but ALSO another $800 investment for the Note 4 to go with it for anyone other than those who already own the Note 4 or were were contemplating buying it anyway.

Personally I'd rather take the path that has many avenues rather than the one that is simply narrow and leads to one single destination. This was the impetus for myself, and dare I say most Android phone users for making the choice to go Android vs Apple in the first place.

While I see why you might make the Apple comparison, I don't think it's a fair one here. One is a closed ecosystem while the other is essentially a test run of a new product.

As I said before, if Samsung is really serious about further developing the technology, it makes sense to me to focus on one device with a smaller user base to start with. Focus on refining the technology and getting it right with one device before having to worry about several devices. From there it can grow. I'd be shocked if future versions aren't compatible with a wider ranger of devices.

 

[FoxKat]

Well what you say is certainly plausible and makes sense. Whether they make it compatible with more devices in their own product line or open it up to Android phones in general is where we will see exactly what their original intention was and whether they are trying to create their own ecosystem or be a part of the greater Android ecosystem. If their watches and Touchwiz and some of the other "innovations" they've worked on are any indication, I'm skeptical.

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[Ollie]

The only resolution that I set for myself this year was to be smarter with my money. Samsung, Apple, etc have been moved to the bottom of the "Want" list.