After several weeks of delays from the May 6th launch date, HP said that their new Reverb VR headset should be restocked at their official website and major retailers in July, though it seems only a small number of were made available before the headset returned to being ‘sold out’. The bumpy launch continues to be plagued by reports of display issues.

Update (July 30th, 2019): HP had expected that new stock of the Pro and Consumer Edition Reverb headset would be available in July, though it appears that only a very limited number of headsets became available for sale. Users over at the WindowsVR subreddit spotted some stock at Best Buy earlier this month but said it was gone within 30 minutes. Presently the headset remains ‘sold out’ at HP.com, Amazon, and Best Buy, with no estimates for stock replenishment.

A spokesperson for HP tells Road to VR that the company is still working on the shortage, but doesn’t have a firm timeline at present. HP maintains that the near unavailability of the headset is due to “incredibly high demand,” but a surprising number of user reported display issues, and a purported HP insider, tell a different story.

Throughout July reports of display issues have continued, similar to those seen in June. A user on Reddit who claims to work for HP and be directly involved with Reverb said at the end of June that the company is actively testing returned headsets in an effort uncover the display issues.

At present we are capturing DOA units to get an handle on all the symptoms reported and we’re plowing through any stock we have here to see if we can repro what is being seen. (I’m testing units at my desk as we speak.)

Luckily, we found on[e] in the office that was having the dimmed LCD issue so we have a bit of a head start.

The fixes will be implemented as soon as we discover what is driving them. (The ‘cable issue’ is the easy one had has been fixed already.)

We hope to hear from HP when they have fully solved Reverb’s issues and the headset becomes readily available for purchase.


Update (June 12th, 2019): HP today told Road to VR that an initial supply of the Reverb headset was recently offered and quickly sold out at HP.com. The company says that more stock of both the Reverb Pro Edition and Reverb Consumer Edition is expected in July, and will be available from HP, Amazon, and Best Buy.

Some early adopters who have received retail Reverb headsets a reporting a range of display issues from dimming and flickering to mis-mapped pixels and blank screens. Users over at the Windows VR section of Reddit are pooling reports of Reverb display problems in an effort to determine the root cause. We didn’t encounter any such issues in our Reverb review.

We’ve reached out to HP for comment on the display issues, which some suspect were related to the headset’s delayed launch.


Update (May 26th, 2019): We’ve checked in with HP for an update on Reverb availability at several points since the May 6th launch date, but the company has declined to offer an update on when they expect the headset to be available, or what has caused the delay. We’re told they’ll be in touch when more information is available.

Original Article (May 14th, 2019): HP’s new Reverb headset boasts high resolution displays and a new design. Though it’s primarily aimed toward enterprise customers, HP is also planning to sell direct to consumers.

In fact the $600 HP Reverb Consumer Edition can already be seen listed on Amazon and Best Buy in the US, but both stores list ‘Out of Stock’. The $650 Reverb Professional Edition is also listed as ‘Out of Stock’ on HP’s store.

“We’re waiting on an update for expected availability to purchase and will let you know as we have a new date confirmed,” an HP spokesperson told Road to VR on May 6th; we’ve reached out in the interim but still haven’t received an update on availability of the headset.

SEE ALSO
HP Reverb Review – An Impressive Headset Stuck with Windows VR Controllers

In our review of the HP Reverb we found it to be a meaningful upgrade from the original HP headset, but the headset is held back from its true potential by an issue impacting display clarity and the same controllers flaws shared by other Windows VR headsets.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • KOSTANTINOS KOD

    Tricks of the trade.

  • KOSTANTINOS KOD

    What? Someone bought the prototype?

  • le Roc de l’Hexagone

    Can you sell your unit to me ? :)

  • Immersive_Computing

    Something a few reviewers have picked up on – the headset cable is very short – 3 metres?

    HP also confirmed it cannot be extended due to DP 1.3 and the headset’s bandwidth requirements. This makes it almost useless for roomscale VR?

    Guess its good for a seated workstation of using with backpack PC on the business edition

    • Charles

      Shorter than ideal, but still long enough for limited-distance room-scale VR.

      • Immersive_Computing

        It would limit you to standing use with very small movement unless your PC is facing backwards into your placespace and at floor height, even then it would not be great.

        Many Rift users extended their headsets using 6 foot HDMI and USB to get a good working length for roomscale use.

        http//uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7bae52801eabb37d92a7a87bcd9e8d63dbecf818b9f9b06036e00ed31f471d76.jpg

        • Charles

          Yeah, you’ll have to be careful about PC positioning. It’s 33% shorter (10 ft vs 15 ft). I had no issues at all with the Vive cable length, even without an extension. The 33% reduction will be limiting, but it’s not a dealbreaker for me.

          • Immersive_Computing

            On my Vive i didn’t need an extension, headset cable and breakout box worked great. Only used extension for this “roomscaleplus” setup in image below.

            Rift cable was a little shorter, and of course no breakout. My Lenovo Explorer needed extensions.

            http//uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84d33c3f5e3f4811e8153b398ffb10e5d665253ad30e481089c4a37f7030c9d6.jpg

    • twattermaster

      According to official datasheet cable is 3.5m

      https://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/getpdf.aspx/4AA7-4776ENW.pdf

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Not really a problem for roomscale VR, as HP is also selling it’s backpack PC especially for this..

      • Immersive_Computing

        It could well work with backpack PC. I’ve used backpack PC with Vive Pro and 4x Lighthouse 2.0, and Rift with Optitrack in warehouse. very interested to try WMR with backpack PC

        • Erilis

          I have the HP Z VR backpack, and a odyssey+ wmr. It works really well. In the opening window, I just don’t define boundaries, and I just run around limitless. Now I just patiently wait for the Reverb.

          • Immersive_Computing
          • Erilis

            Cool, I was considering that one, but I ended up with the only backpack pc that has a 1080ti, and I’m thankful for that now. This MSI only has a 1070, and wouldn’t have been enough for the reverb. It looks like my backpack pc was the last one to be developed. Here’s where it’s hanging in my wardrobe.[img]https://i.imgur.com/TbRFabU.jpg[/img]

          • Erilis

            I also think I can see the https://www.stereolabs.com/zed-mini/ that has such a huge potential. hefty price for just a front camera. I personally just want to see my keyboard as well as the virtual desktop, it would be a heavy price to pay just for that

      • care package

        Oh well that makes it all better than……lol

      • Moe Curley

        Offhand, I can think of 3,999 reasons this is a problem.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          Except for the fixed PC, what other 3.998 reasons would this be a problem? ok, tell me at least 10 other reasons…

          • Moe Curley

            Because it cost three thousand nine hundred and ninety nine dollars.bills.

    • That’s the specification of the DP 1.3, it’s guaranteed to work with this kind of cable, but it might work for eg. if you add another 1m, it’s just not guaranteed and it also depends on quality of added extension cable. We will have to watch reviews, someone will test this for sure.

      • Mike

        Also you could use an active repeater.

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    • Jordy

      I don’t expect that to be a problem, 1-1.5m cable extension should work fine if you really need it.

      • Immersive_Computing

        HP already confirmed extensions won’t work due to bandwidth requirements

        • Jordy

          I expect them to be wrong in most of the cases… I mean it might work fine for a lot of people but it will not work for everybody.

  • Simple O’Rourke

    What a botched launch. If they can’t even get it out the door on time I’d hate to see what else is wrong.

    • Charles

      Hopefully the delay is because they’re fixing the Mura issue.

    • Rowdy123

      They probably figured … “well heck…relative to Pimax … we are a-ok”.

      • Moe Curley

        I heard horror stories about doing business in China and saw the early problems the Pimax kickstarter had so I along with a lot of other people obviously thought “This is a disaster waiting to happen” but they are doing some work! They’ve released some good tools and seem to be a REAL company! I’m surprised and glad to see the ongoing effort they are putting in.

        The 200 degrees ~ uh 170 ~ uh 140 degree thing was a big letdown though.

    • Tags I812

      i’d rather have them send it out late and finished then send it out unfinished with issues.

  • I tried to get more info as well, but HP is not answering anymore… they just say that “it is coming”. What a weird behaviour

    • Erilis

      How long can they keep that up for. is there no information leak anywhere about this? I’m estimating September for a full recall, I can’t imagine 4 months of silence, might as well say something now if they know.

    • BLN

      They told me end of June yesterday. Their new official guess. Lol

  • Pablo
    • TwinFire

      Must be getting an Epic store timed exclusivity deal…

      • Jarilo

        lol

      • KUKWES

        hopefully

  • The Bard

    Smart people don’t buy such expensive and new things at day 0. They wait 3 months till all bugs are resolved. Same with Geforce 2080 RTX cards, smartphones with pink tint in camera, lcd etc. I will wait a few months, see what people complain about. First of all, I am expecting Samsung to drop a bombe and annihilate all these new VR headsets within 4-6 months.

    • I agree, and expect Samsung will launch some good odyssey upgrade , though 4-6 months plus waiting another 3 to await bugs is a long old time in the world of tech.

    • Erilis

      I have a feeling samsung is going to come up with something new and out of the blue and blow the competition away.

      • johann jensson

        And will not sell it in Europe, again. They just love losing money.

        • Erilis

          It’s a worldwide recall. I calculated with the help of the first article saying when it first went into mass production until it got released, that it won’t be available until September. Even if they just change the panels. Since it’s already under the knife, they should fix the optics (it’s said that rift s is more comfortable than this for virtual desktop for it’s optics that keeps the clarity more spread, that’s just wrong) and stick two sensors in the headset so we can at least have the options of being able to use it with vive wands, or index controllers. Maybe it had to do with having compatibility issues with their VR backpack that was just released today https://www8.hp.com/us/en/vr/vr-backpack.html . Sorry for the rant.

          Oh sorry, you were referring to the Odyssey+ not selling in europe? I didn’t know that. they are selling it for 200$ again somewhere in the US. The market feels flooded over here.

          • johann jensson

            Yeah, i meant the O+.

    • Ugo

      HP Acerb recalled

  • eckehard

    sollte da etwa ein Upgrade kommen ??

    • Bulli Dz

      Nein eher eine gefixte Version, wegen dem Display Problem.

  • le Roc de l’Hexagone
  • oompah

    the design objective should be
    that players should be able to
    use it for 3 hrs w/o fatigue

  • The Bard

    It is obvious WHY. Quality problems. Big quality problems. The reviewers reported weird shadows on screen and tint in LCD. Good move to postpone deliveries and check the stock for quality problems.

    • Erilis

      I think you are right! Although, my biggest issue with the reverb is not the panels, or even the controllers (they get the job done, won’t win any e-tournaments with them, but you know WMR controllers), it’s the optics, they are also like odyssey+, or worse. The clarity has to be spread out throughout the screen. If they are recalling the panels (they won’t find new panels like that so easily) I’m hoping they would improve the optics a little as well.

      • The Bard

        Are optics bad in Odyssey+? I think they are very good actually. Only thing I dislike is narrow sweet-spot. This should have been improved between Odyssey and Odyssey+ versions.

        • Erilis

          the narrow sweet spot is part of the optics. I thought they were pretty good, but now that I stuck my face in the quest, I realize optics can be so much better. IPD adjustment on odyssey is a must.

  • eckehard

    I think they have accepted, that the headset is not ready and they returned it !!

  • Arashi

    This is getting embarrassing now.

  • Sky Castle

    This was a day one purchase for me, but now that I have the Rift S, Quest, and pre-ordered the Valve Index I’ve lost interest in the Reverb.

    • Jarilo

      I mean you covered all your bases dude.

  • WyrdestGeek

    Hmm. “Delay with no end in sight” seems like a recurring theme for the VR/AR industry overall. #justsayin

  • On reddit, a guy claiming to be a member of HP said they had a recall for a problem that may happen on the headset. They are fixing it and then they will release it again . He said that this would have happened soon, but actually, I can’t see the headset on the market yet.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    I would like to share with you all that if it was not for Jesus showing up at my worse time I would not of been saved and restored.

    • gothicvillas

      Lay off the bottle

      • Jistuce

        But communion wine is the best wine.

    • mirak

      Saved and restored like a backup by Neo in the matrix you mean ?

    • MAGA Man

      Trump showed up at our countries worst time and saved us all! Jesus sent Trump!!! MAGA!!!

    • dk

      Brahma says u r not saved ….no Valhalla for u

    • Jarilo

      Not sure how that’s going to solve the HP Reverb issues but ok.

  • Jarilo

    It’s a real shame it has all these issues plaguing it. It’s a very comfortable headset with a high res making it ideal for seated/sim/flying/vorpX usage. I was going to add one to my HMD collection for those specific purposes and online sell off the controllers but I am choosing to wait and see what’s going on with these issues now first. Could be faulty lenses and bad manufacturing process, it’s not a cheap HMD to begin with.

  • MOT

    Ive had mine for a week here in the Uk and have had no problems so far. It is a stunning display.

    • BLN

      I have had mine since Tuesday on the US and it is stunning.

  • BLN

    I got mine on Tuesday from the HP US Store ordered very early on 6/1. I have about 10 hours on it in DCS World (flight sim) mainly and it works perfectly so far. No issues whatsoever. No Mura that has been discussed. I just watched a SteamVR 3D movie for free on Mars (Buzz Aldrin Cycling The Pathway To Mars) and it was excellent. They finally have VR where I wanted it a decade ago with very high resolution. My only complaint is the long cable is thick and heavy but very long. Longer than the cable on my Lenovo Explorer. This is a headset for sitting down IMO unless you use the backpack/short cable. I am getting 60 FPS next to terrain in DCS which is very good performance IMO. 90 FPS skyward.

    • Alan Harrington

      What are your rig specs to get DCS at 2160×2160?

      • Steve G

        I have i7-9700k WC OC to 5, and run a 1080ti. I run MSAA 2x – in game PD of 1.0 and steamVR at like 100. Looks great, plays well.

    • Steve G

      I love it for DCS , best resolution ever.

  • Smokey_the_Bear

    who cares, it has the exact same shit tracking.

    • Jarilo

      Seated / flying / and racing fans of VR do.

  • Jarilo

    They’re all broken everywhere.

  • Mindfulmuchkin

    My new headset with the flashing display, powered USB 3.0 tried everything, flashing comes back on around 20 mins use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiOMgH_5LTA

    • Skoczek

      I have the same problem.
      I am returning HMD to HP.
      Shame.

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  • BLN

    Update. My Reverb started having issues with sound about after 20 hours of usage. HP is forcing returns at this point rather than extend the 30 day period while they correct the units. Otherwise, you are stuck in the warranty repair status and they currently have no ETA or parts to fix any of the units. They totally botched the product release. I am sure they will fix it over the coming months. We individual home consumers were the beta testers and the true targets are business users who will wait for them to get stabilized.

  • BLN

    I just returned the Reverb sadly rather than wait for a fix because the estimate is now early September before consumers see replacements. For DCS World and clarity it kicks the Valve Index’s butt which I also tried.

    • BLN

      I got a 2nd Reverb from Best Buy.

      • le Roc de l’Hexagone

        New version ? no issues ?

        • BLN

          Still a Gen 1 but no issues yet and the Gen 2’s won’t be out until end of August or later. I will return this one as well and then buy a third one once the Gen 2’s are actually released and tested. (I am an Elite Plus member and have 45 days or until Aug. 27th to return it). I ordered it within 15 minutes of receiving he notification email from BB. I found out they only stayed online for 30 minutes before being sold out. Now BB has delisted the Reverb until the Gen 2’s arrive.

  • oompah

    interest in VR is picking up

  • Ratm

    Lol press really dont like this headset.

    • Skoczek

      There is nothing to like.
      You buy, get a damaged device, send it back.
      For what? Only problems …

  • Jarilo

    No one even considers this HMD anymore. R.I.P

  • Steve G

    I taped my connector and used cable ties to attach to back of unit and I haven’t had any issues.

    That said, I *might* have experienced the dimming, thing is, the game I play I can’t tell if it’s the lighting in game or the unit.

    IMO, HP should issue a recall if they fix these issues and let people get fixed units. Otherwise I might never buy another HP product again.

  • Steve G

    I should add the unit gets very hot. I’ve had to run a fan while I sit (I play VR flight sim games)

  • Steve G

    The other bad part is the cable is so heavy, I’d not like this unit if playing any VR games where I had to move around. It would require some sort of belt clip – as the cord is VERY heavy