The Oculus Rift is launching in Q1 2016

[ReconZeroCP]

From the Oculus Blog: https://www.oculus.com/blog/first-look-at-the-rift-shipping-q1-2016/​

The inaugural consumer version of Oculus VR's Rift virtual reality head-mounted display (HMD) is set for a Q1 2016 release, several months after that of Valve's Vive VR HMD manufactured by HTC (which is set for a "Fall 2015" release window).

It's been 8 months since the unveiling of Oculus' Crescent Bay prototype at Oculus Connect last year in September, and we finally have a release window for the "Consumer Version 1" (Rift "CV1"). The Crescent Bay prototypes' hardware specifications are still unknown at this point, though we have confirmed they house two display panels (instead of the single display in the DK2), alike the Vive prototypes / developer editions; Crescent Bay also uses, from pictures, Fresnel lenses, rather than the traditional lenses used in the original development kits.

We'll have more hardware and input details later, stated by Oculus.

The future is soon! xD

 

[_Ace]

The other day, we had some guys come to my school and give a talk about mechanics and technology, and they brought an oculus rift with them. Can confirm is really cool

 

[ReconZeroCP]

Oculus confirms the resolution of the Rift's consumer version at 2160x1200 over two display panels, alongside recommended PC specifications for the Rift.

Recommended PC Specs
NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
8GB+ RAM
Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
2x USB 3.0 ports
Windows 7 SP1 or newer

Though, I'll still personally recommend the GTX 980 as the entry-level graphics card for experiencing VR (whether it's on Valve's HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift), due to Oculus' demos using, at minimum, the GTX 980 (at events such as E3, Gamescom, and other public demo events).

 

[Sexy Beast]

Oculus confirms the resolution of the Rift's consumer version at 2160x1200 over two display panels, alongside recommended PC specifications for the Rift.

Recommended PC Specs
NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
8GB+ RAM
Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
2x USB 3.0 ports
Windows 7 SP1 or newer

Though, I'll still personally recommend the GTX 980 as the entry-level graphics card for experiencing VR (whether it's on Valve's HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift), due to Oculus' demos using, at minimum, the GTX 980 (at events such as E3, Gamescom, and other public demo events).

Also, probably won't work on most Laptops.

Unfortunately, it looks like Rift won't work with laptops - for now.

"Many discrete GPU laptops have their external video output connected to the integrated GPU and drive the external output via hardware and software mechanisms that can't support the Rift," Binstock explained.

"Since this isn't something that can be determined by reading the specs of a laptop, we are working on how to identify the right systems. Note that almost no current laptops have the GPU performance for the recommended spec, though upcoming mobile GPUs may be able to support this level of performance."

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-05-15-oculus-rift-recommended-specs-confirmed