Hi,
Here comes another shameful topic of a person with first world problems. I know, I know, and I feel slightly bad about it. But let's move on.
Life should not be just about work, commitments, taxes, paying back mortgages, etc.
Once in a while you deserve some fun and my Xmas present arrangement with my wife is that we get a given budget to spend (depending on how good the year was) and each one picks whatever present we want. This way we neither must spend a hard time imagining what the other wants nor do we buy the wrong thing, version or size. Might be stupid, might be less romantic, who cares. Works for us.
So, coming to the question: This year I have a budget of 300 Euro (sucks, but we are in crisis here in Portugal) and I wonder, what to get?
Problem is I already have more than I need (I am a TEA with some ramifications into consoles, emulators, HAM, ...) and what I don't already have is usually far too expensive.
My candidates so far are:
1) Meta Quest 2 with 128GB: available in Spain (100km drive) for 299 Euro.
Pros:
- Entry into VR (never used it, only tested this exact model a few months ago with an industrial custom app made in Unity, which was kind of mind blowing - I almost fell forward to the floor).
- Can play games autonomously (but I think those games suck and cost quite some money – I am not a big gamer, despite owning most of the consoles – mainly for the fun of jailbreaking them)
- Can play games on the PC (I would love to play GTA V with VR, but it seems it requires quite some modding, which I am not sure will work with current versions)
- Would be a real motivation to learn Unity: I started the training courses offered for free (which is mind blowing good), but the learning curve is steep, even for 2D platformers. I would like to create some engineering applications to visualize CAD/CAM space with VR. However, I believe I won’t ever get any result, because I am 53 and there is too much to learn and my interest will probably die out before getting anything up and running
- Apparently can be used with Google Earth to see the whole world from VR perspective. This alone seems great, if not to just visit the places I travel to beforehand, so that I am familiar with the location.
- I don’t own a MS Flight Simulator license, but eventually that could be a killer app for VR, but I am not sure if it is compatible. This would combine flight simulation with the last point and probably result in a great experience.
- Saw Eurotruck Simulator on YouTube with VR (not sure that’s the name of the game). Again, I think the immersion must be close to mind blowing.
- When travelling, the Meta Quest 2 adds little volume/weigh on stuff to take along, but would allow to kill time (airport, at night alone in the hotel), for example to watch movies in a big virtual screen.
Cons:
- I am not sure if the thrill won’t last just a few days and then I stop using it:
o Games are boring.
o Headset is uncomfortable.
o Batteries don’t last long enough.
o …
- I am, honestly, afraid of ill side effects on my eyes: I suffer from glaucoma (treated and controlled, no sight loss – but requires daily medication and appointment every 6 month). Apparently, the effects include dry eye syndrome, tired sight, etc.
- Unity is probably a too big a project for me to learn, mainly because I could only spend like 1-2 hours a day (maximum, not guaranteed).
- Further costly addons might be required: long USB-3 cable of high quality, better head strap, prescription lenses, headphones, battery pack, carry case, …
So, all in all, I am not 100% sure about this one.
2) Flipper Zero: would cost 200-250 Euro, depending on the included accessories (silicon case, WIFI board)
Pros:
- Seems to be a nice gadget to play with and to carry around all the time (which is an important factor, because I have little continuous free time, but frequent shorter waiting times).
- Can be used to try out a few hacks and tests, which I don’t have adequate equipment already (I do have HackRF One, Portapack, TinySA, Baofeng, NanoVNA, Adalm Pluto, etc., including a Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro smartphone with IR).
Cons:
- I can already carry out most/all(?) attacks anyway (but not with one single small device).
- Seems expensive for what it does.
- I will probably lose interest quickly.
Unfortunately, at this point nothing else comes to my mind.
Any suggestions for tech gear up to 300 Euro?
Any comments on either the Meta Quest 2 or the Flipper Zero?
Thanks for reading this far.
Also, would be interesting to know, if I am the only one with this kind of reasoning regarding “Xmas presents” and what you guys are getting.
By the way, last year I got myself a Tiny SA Ultra (pretty OK, especially considering the price), the year before that a Nintendo Switch (I dislike it a lot, because I thought you could use it as a tablet or at least as a browser, which you cannot, and games are ridiculously expensive). The year before that I got a PS4 (to play Red Dead Redemption II, which was mind blowing for how detailed the landscape is).
Regards,
Vitor
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