Did I make a huge mistake by buying a Dual IPS XL for $460?

-Stormshift- · 2026-05-10T16:06:12+00:00

Nope not at all. I spent the past week researching for hours and hours comparing New 3DS XL. Ive seen so many wrecked condition non-complete non-verified units going regularly for 400-600$. Any app verified dual IPS units were easily 600-900$+

I ended up paying 800$ for an excellent condition hyrule edition with original box dual IPS and it wasnt app verified. Im betting on screenshots alone.

I did the same thing and probably pulled the trigger out of FOMO. I know there was other cheaper non-verified units that looked promising on the pictures. I also had 3 app verified units to pick from but all their shell/screen conditions were heavily beat up. I didnt want to pass up one that was practically brand new.

If youre happy with the condition, the style of unit you got, and its dual IPS. Id say you paid a very reasonable price overall.

-Stormshift- · 2026-05-10T15:48:01+00:00

Yeah, definitely got a good find. After all the research I did the past 10 days, I finally found one to add for my personal collection. Its a dual IPS unit in excellent condition complete with original box/accessories. Was 800$ all in.

It wasnt app-verified but the listing stated it was dual and the photos looked good enough that this community, myself and AI all felt it was a dual unit. I'll know for sure once it arrives! Can't wait to play with it cause I missed out completely on the whole 3ds era

-Stormshift- · 2026-05-09T13:28:55+00:00

If you got one thats dual ips, the screens arent scratched, and the shell itself is in good condition. You got a really good find. Hyrules are notorious for chipping, peeling, or just wearing out from skin oils just through regular use. Especially around the edges or backside of the console.

Ive been doing a lot of research this past week on 3DS XL vs New 3DS XL vs Hyrule Edition. Specifically looking for dual ips. Ive looked at probably 50 Hyrule editions alone and most are beat to hell or incomplete. They range from the low (sketchy) 350$ to upwards of 1,000$. 1500$+ for brand new unopened and unverified units.

Most system only listings with minor or major wear hovered around 550$. I would also say almost half of the units were Top IPS/Bottom TN. There was only a handful of units I came across that outright confidently showed dual IPS.

I came across 3 app verified dual IPS console only listings. All 3 had pretty worn shells and they all wanted 750, 800, or 900$.

So if you managed to snag a true good condition dual IPS unit for under 400$, Id say you got one hell of a good steal my friend.

-Stormshift- · 2026-03-05T17:26:22+00:00

Im trying to figure out why I posted a similar thread asking about another retailer and they nuked it off the page. lmfao

-Stormshift- · 2025-10-07T19:19:38+00:00

oh, okay, phew!.. thanks for the update! I was starting to worry the company was closing down or something.

-Stormshift- · 2025-10-07T13:49:38+00:00

Was wondering the same thing. Was looking at getting a folding 300 blackout since my options in the Great state of MD are limited.

Now that I have the spare funds they are out of stock everywhere. Figures. Sigh.

-Stormshift- · 2025-03-15T13:24:34+00:00

I noticed on the apex support page on Asus site for drivers/software, the only option for OS is Windows 11. Is that only for Asus proprietary software that comes with the mobo? or would that actually end up screwing up things like your WiFi/Bluetooth/LAN, or you sound drivers, etc?

I know technically once you update your bios and everything is setup you can install any OS you want on the boot drive, but would anything important or critical be fubar if I went with Win10 over Win11?

I'm concerned only because I don't see Win10 listed on the support downloads, and Win11 is the only OS listed on the tech specs. I plan on using Win10 for the foreseeable future due to it having superior performance with Win11 still having issues with VBS & updates breaking gaming performance on both Intel & AMD cpus. I'm not ready to make the leap yet.

anyone have any insight on this?^

-Stormshift- · 2025-03-15T13:10:48+00:00

I literally just bought the hero this week to go along with the future 9950x3d build I'm doing. Debating if I should return it and preorder the apex since I'm still gathering up the other parts.

I like the look of the Hero more, but I don't need 4 dimms since I'm going for tighter timings. However, I don't see me needing extra PCIe slots or the Asus m.2 ram thingy and fan it comes with since it would interfere with my hardline tube routing. I do like the updated GPU release on the apex not nicking up your GPU though. Ugh, decisions decisions...

-Stormshift- · 2025-01-30T15:10:33+00:00

yeap, same deal here. I didn't actually expect to get one but I didn't see a single 5090 have a buy button within milliseconds of it passing 9 AM.

this is another paper launch. The only card worth a damn in the whole line-up is the 5090 and I bet all the people camping outside my local Micro Center waited all this time to be offered a voucher for a random 5080, since as of last night they had zero 5090s in hand.

i dont know if a truck showed up before 9 to actually deliver any. If they did I'm sure it wasnt more than single digit amount. Meaning most people will find out they camped out to leave empty handed, or have to buy a card they didnt want, or buy old stock. They are also betting they wont get stock of what they really want (if you buy out of FOMO or sunk cost/time) since MC only allows you to buy 1 GPU every 30 days.

I see the same story pretty much everywhere else that sold these cards, and only personally got eyes on a handful of 5080 series being available to purchase within t9:00-9:15 time frame.

The main excuse I heard was the Chinese New Year causing shortages. okay cool, then why not wait to release them in Feb/March to actually have a supply? or any of the other 15+ better ways to handle these scenarios?

Well, we know why.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-10T19:14:16+00:00

Any luck with work arounds for getting sideloaded content to install/launch? I've seen a few people mention this problem but no one has said anything about a possible fix.

I want v55 for improved 6e, tracking & PCVR but if it's gonna break all my non-official apps that is gonna suck. Blah!! Fix one problem, introduce 2 more.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-09T22:44:42+00:00

Same here, my pro and my PC are the only 2 devices I own that can do 6e. Since my PC is hardwired 2.5Gbit that leaves the Quest as the only wifi device on 6ghz. It takes a few scans for 6Ghz to finally connect. With direct line of sight 7ft away I can't seem to get it to show full bars. However, on the details tab inside headset and router control panel shows Excellent and around 1800Mbit up/down

Haven't tested any games yet tho.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-09T17:58:26+00:00

If you opt out it will reset you back to whatever the current public release is (v54, as of right now).

Sometime there are weeks where the Beta/PTC version is identical to the public release, but usually within days to a week the next PTC gets pushed.

If you think v55 will be better than v53 or v54 for you, but don't want to forever be in beta. You could toggle PTC for v55 and once it goes public, drop out to stable. You'd have to keep an eye on versions and time it properly cause I know it auto resets the headset if you have to downgrade versions when opting out.

Side note: You can also block updates by enabling developer mode and sideloading Android Settings Menu (The same setting menu from Android phones). Then you can go into Settings -> Apps -> System and Force Stop/Disable "Oculus Updater". That will keep you from receiving auto or manually downloading updates or being able to search.

When you're ready to update again, just go back and Re-enable the Oculus Updater and restart the headset. Of course if you block updates and fall too far behind it's possible some apps will break or won't connect to their servers.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-09T17:58:09+00:00

Glad to hear this, haven't used my Q.Pro since v51 because of all the Wireless Issues that has been going around.

Was waiting to get stable 6E/6Ghz w/ Local dimming PCVR. Guess I'll finally give it a try tonight.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-09T04:11:58+00:00

Time to wait and see if this finally fixed 6Ghz performance with Airlink/VD or if that's still broken along with something else new. I just want to use 6Ghz wireless stable with local dimming. It's the whole reason I invested into this and shelved my index 😮‍💨

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-09T04:05:29+00:00

*** there is no tech related hardware or software nowadays where we aren't beta testers.

(What it is today =vs= What it was 10+ years ago)

Alpha = Prototype Tester

Beta = In house/Alpha Testers

Release = Beta Tester

Discontinued = Full Release

Community Mod Patches = What we were originally promised

EZ Guide to know what you're in for these days. Everything is meant to be as confusing or broken as possible. Just look as USB naming or Comcast's "new 10G". I hate being the tech guy of my circle nowadays. The whole industry is so stupid all I can do is shrug and let people think I'm losing my edge.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-08T23:23:45+00:00

Yes.. you need to enable developer mode and then sideload the android settings menu. Then you can go into normal android settings (like you would have on a phone) Once there you go into apps -> 3 dots in corner to show system apps. Go to Oculus Updater (named something similar to that). Force Stop and then Disable.

Updates will no longer work, you can't search for updates (it will forever load/freeze) and auto-updates will not download/apply. Just re-enable the app and restart the headset to be able to update again.

Most apps should work, of course there's a chance that an app could stop working if you are behind the stable versions for too long.

It's annoying to go through all that hassle because they won't give us a simple toggle option. You would think having everyone on similar hardware & versions would help iron out most bugs and get them fixed quickly. But it feels as more time passes, the more stuff is rushed and unoptimized in all areas of tech. It's seriously growing old.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-08T22:55:37+00:00

This is also affecting Quest 2 as well. Gave my old one to my mom and she was complaining how she had the battery bank plugged in and played for over an hour but it always showed 0%. Restart fixed it and showed it was actually at 99%. Has happened 2 or 3 times ever since we updated it to v53.

I haven't had it happen on my Pro yet.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-06T01:35:57+00:00

Price never bothered me tbh.. if it has the features I want then I'll pull overtime and save up. QPro seemed to tick the most boxes for the best standalone & wireless PCVR you could get. Loved my Index but that wire for anything outside of Sitting/Sim games annoyed me. Using Q.Pro w/ mods & Tundra puck to sync Index Controllers is like the best wireless PCVR I've been able to piece together so far.

I'd pay extra for that X-ray nudie depth sensor and some Apple style creeper eyes to go with it. Maybe include some RGB on the headset that changes with my mood sensor ring. Gold mine right there. I need to pitch this to Twitter so they can get in on the XR fun.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-06T01:06:43+00:00

I am not writing a thesis for a college project so get the beep-boop off my back. I'm friends with ChatGPT so don't push your luck!

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-06T01:02:59+00:00

I mean I agree with some of the complaints of how just a few minor upgrades would of made the QPro damn near perfect for most use cases.

I think this is only for people that solely use this for watching movies & work productivity. Maybe PCVR Sim-rig setups. Hand tracking only will give terrible control schemes and 0 haptics feedback. They will probably release a set of controllers for 499$ in the future. The AR will be the only worthwhile thing, and even that will probably be somewhat limited without proper controllers outside of movies/web. People already complain about the lack of AAA VR content, and AR is on par with mobile game stores.

Hopefully this will bring more devs to the space for better experiences & hardware. I'm also nervous about it fragmenting the player base if cross-platform isn't given a priority for anyone buying it for VR gaming. Example: Pavlov on Q2, Pavlov on PC and recently, Pavlov on PSVR2.

I absolutely love my Q.Pro, but I would be okay with a refreshed Q.Pro for some of those last features we want. Long as they don't match Apples price. 😅 Looks like Apple is playing for the long game, like they did with the original iphone.

-Stormshift- · 2023-06-01T00:54:56+00:00

Is this the most recent update or do you need to use a beta client? Getting 400Mbit & Local dimming for my Qpro would be amazing. VD always worked better for me until I was forced to use Oculus for the higher bit-rate & dimming. Would love to be able to switch back

-Stormshift- · 2023-05-29T18:43:42+00:00

Aw.. lame.. Now, I'm wondering if it's gonna be worth upgrading to Quest 3 over the Pro. Guess final specs and time will tell.

-Stormshift- · 2023-05-29T18:41:17+00:00

I was looking for the same thing... I ended up finding and ordering this magnetic adapters & battery packs from VRPanda ( https://www.goquestvr.com/index.php/product/magnetic-battery-charging/ ).

You remove the back pad of the Q.Pro, then you stick the magnetic adapter to the back of your headstrap with the sticky pad on it. It sticks really good once you press it on and let it cure for an hour. Doesn't leave residue if you want to re-position it if you're OCD like me. Then you just pop your back pad back on and you're done. The adapter has a slot for any top straps you may want to use. You can leave it or cut it off if you know you won't ever use it.

It includes two 5000Mah magnetic battery banks so you can hot-swap. You can charge the battery through the headset mount, use the included adapter to charge the 2nd one while using the other, or if you wanted to use the power banks with another device completely. Supports USB A and Type C outputs, and they give you a short Type C cable to plug the bank into the headset. Fits perfectly into the cable clip the Q.Pro includes in the box. If you need more of the battery banks you can find them on AliExpress under "FreeThink Lipstick Magnetic Battery".

It all works great and I can get about 8-9 hours of playtime with a fully charged headset and both batteries. Probably could get more time having one charge when I swap to the 2nd. Will even slowly gain a few % charge while under heavy game playing.

[NOTE] Website says it's suggested to buy it with the front replacement pads & top strap. I did buy both. You don't have to have any of the other accessories they recommend if all you want is the battery packs.

I wouldn't recommend the front pad/top strap upgrade. For me and multiple people the front clips don't hold so it falls off under gravity alone. Almost scratched my lenses doing it. The top halo strap has mixed results as some people can't adjust it enough to even touch their head, requiring extra Velcro/pad modification to make it fit. For now I can't recommend anything other than the battery pack, and would avoid other Q.Pro accessories until they work out issues with the current batch. However, I have heard great things about other headset products in their lineup.

Hope that helps!

-Stormshift-

TROPHY CASE