We've dabbled in VR many times before, even as far back as the beginning of the 90s with W Industries' Virtuality system. More recent years have given us mobile-based devices, such as Samsung's Gear VR and Google Cardboard , but such devices are essentially tasters of VR's potential by comparison.

Innovative VR that allows you to move around in a virtual space; excellent visuals thanks to high-res displays; controllers are excellent and offer developers many options for use

Setup is far from straight forward thanks to sensor placement; occasional crashes when installing; Room Space requires a large area to play in; headphones not built-in

It's hard to compare the HTC Vive to anything. It doesn't have the games of the Oculus Rift yet, but the Vive's take on virtual reality is best in breed. No other VR headsets offer such an immersive virtual reality experience that you can wander around it, poke stuff and genuinely lose yourself in...

Room-scale VR is the one to beat; Excellent; intuitive controllers; Comfortable and well-designed headset

Not enough content; A bit laborious to set up; Expensive

The HTC Vive has become such an important focus of the company's business, that there are even rumors of a branch spin-off recently, but is the Vive truly worth more dedicated focus?

A few weeks back, we gave you virtual reality kit. While we were able to explain the Vive's specifications, setup, configuration, and give some opinions on the experience, at that point, we hadn't had the kit long enough to form any solid, concrete opinions.

How do you even begin to encapsulate the polarity of feelings the HTC Vive can inspire in an overall verdict? The HTC Vive is the bastion of high-end virtual reality in 2016, but its cost of entry isn't just a monetary value (despite that being the largest factor).

Truly stepping into VR for the first time; Intuitive motion controllers; Simplicity of Chaperone system

Very expensive for general consumer; Base Station fitting is a nightmare; Mediocre library at launch

Later revisions may improve the bugs and lack of variety, but for now this is just another VR tech demo that's all promise and too little polish.

A fun reinterpretation of classic rhythm action games; that looks great and has a potentially infinite music library

The gameplay gets repetitive very quickly, no matter how different the music is you use; Very buggy, particularly the menu interface

The HTC Vive is the sci-fi, virtual reality future we've all been waiting for, but if developers and content creators don't embrace it, all the technological innovation in the world won't save it from the scrapheap.

Incredibly immersive

Expensive; Requires a lot of space; Cabling can be awkward; Lack of stand-out games and apps

The HTC Vive has proved to be quite a formidable piece of kit. Not only did it surprise when it stole much of Oculus' pre-release thunder with roomscale and hand tracked controllers, but it surprised post launch by being more widely available.

Room scale is hands down; the best VR experience you can have; Motion controllers make interaction in VR natural; Tracking is almost flawless with proper sensor placement; Chaperone gives you confidence to move around in VR; Headset is comfortable over long play sessions; Zero motion sickness...

Clearing space can be a pain; especially in smaller British homes – but it is worth it; Set up can be a bit fiddly; Steam VR still crashes; Lens contours can occasionally be seen in scenes with bright light sources; Headset weighting needs improvement; Crisp; bright screen makes pixels a little more...

The future is here. It's called the HTC Vive and it is incredible. It is the most exciting piece of tech I've used in a while and it's not even close. Let's back up a little bit though. I've been a big fan of the Oculus Rift and it's goal of bringing of VR to the masses.

If your life is perfect and nothing every gets lost of breaks, this may be a good gaming product.

DIdn't get to use it long enough to find them

We lost a part; HTC would not sell us a replacement; They said to buy a new unit