The HTC Vive Pro is the latest and greatest virtual reality headset to become available. Indeed at the time of writing, it's the most high-resolution, consumer-grade piece of VR gear that you can actually buy, but it does come at a price. The headset alone will set you back $800, but that's only useful if you already own the two Lighthouse sensors it needs for tracking and have a pair of Vive wand motion controllers. For that you either need to already own an HTC Vive -- a still $500 purchase in its own right -- or buy the new HTC Vive Pro starter kit, which has been priced at $1,100, as per UploadVR.
That's a lot of money for something that is effectively a refresh, or evolution of the HTC Vive, rather than a revolution. Stil, $300 to pick up two sensors and a pair of controllers which would probably cost upwards of $450 if you purchased them individually isn't bad.
The question is though, whether it's actually worth jumping on this gravy train just yet. Towards the end of 2018 we expect the release of not only second-generation Lighthouse trackers, but second-generation Vive Pro controllers as well. Although the trackers will have the more significant upgrade -- support for 100m squared tracking space, support for multiple headsets and up to four sensors -- both will become available as part of a dedicated Vive Pro bundle. It will likely be more expensive than the starter kit available now, but it will be more of a true HTC Vive 2.0 experience, especially if you factor in the wireless module which is also expected to launch around a similar time frame.
Regardless, the Vive Pro is available in the next day or two, depending on your territory. While it is expensive, HTC claims that it has priced it aggressively and is offering existing Vive owners as much as $100 on the Viveport store as an added incentive.
