 Not a gimmick, great addon |
| Review Date: September 13, 2007 |
| Reviewer: E. VONROTHKIRCH, Garland, TX USA |
The 360 chatpad is a much-needed relief from the thumbstick method of typing messages on Xbox Live.
I have larger hands, so leaving it attached to the controller doesn't bother me while I play games. If you have smaller hands or the chat pad bothers you while playing, you can simply detach or leave detached until you need it to type.
Since it takes up the space on the controller normally allocated to the Xbox Live headset, MS has included a new headset that works with the chatpad.
I found it very easy to type with the chatpad, and overall I think it is a must-have accessory for anyone with a friends list!
The keys light up for easy use in the dark, and there is a one-press MSN button for those that want to chat in between gaming sessions. MS has really outdone themselves on this one. The 360 chatpad is an exceptional accessory for less than the price of a new game! |
Relief for the little annoyances in life...
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| Review Date: December 31, 2007 |
| Reviewer: ReynaVoop, |
This little gem is a welcome addition for any gamer that travels and likes to be able to game on a friend's console.
Recovering your gamertag can be a lengthy and frustrating process, mainly because you've got to type in various bits of information to verify the account. I've been the victim of having to do this up to 4 times in a row, hunting for letters and twitching the thumbstick to enter the characters; what a pain!
Yes, you can plug in a USB keyboard, but who really wants to wrestle with one of those? Sitting 3 feet from your console is so 1985.
The Chatpad takes care of that mess quite nicely with satisfyingly clicky key action and fairly accurate recognition on screen. One thing I did have to get used to is that you do not hear a tone when typing in the first capitalised letter in a sentence or word. I type relatively fast, but I've had no problems with the Chatpad or console keeping up with me. Once you get accustomed to the slightly different "shift" buttons (orange and green) to use for characters other than digits and basic letters, you'll find it hard to remember what you ever did before you got your hands on this attachment. No pun intended.
Another little perk is the ready-to-chat MSN Messenger button. It was a bit of a no-brainer since Live players all have Windows Live IDs. I've been able to chat with friends on both the 360 as well as those on the PC without any problem. Again...no USB keyboard hunching or hunting and pecking with the thumbstick or D-pad. Yay!
And lastly, even though I've relatively small hands for a woman, I've had no difficulty with the Chatpad making the controller too bulky or awkward to grip. I haven't made any mistaken key presses or have had the attachment get in the way while gaming.
Really, the only thing I'd like to see by way of new developments for this product is a black version to match my Elite controllers. Black and white might be fashionable in other arenas, but somehow it just doesn't work in this case. |
Wow, must have it
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| Review Date: January 20, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Mark Zeller, Nottingham, MD United States |
| I am an older gamer, born from tape drives and floppy disks bigger than a toaster oven. I am not a power gamer and I don't dig the total social scene of online gaming. I play WoW and I play online Xbox 360 games. I am often amazed at the speed of communications from friends, especially their messages. Now I see how. This keypad saves you time and effort typing messages to friends. I couldn't go without it as an online game on Xbox 360. |
Main Use
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| Review Date: August 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Exxxxx, shack in the wilderness. |
| I don't use this for chatting at all, but I've found this to be an excellent addition to my other 360 accesories for 1 reason. I have a lot of music stored on my 360 and it's a real pain going through and naming everything using the controller alone. The chatpad makes this tedious process a breeze in comparision. It comes with a headset which I'll use to communicate on live instead of messing with the text messenger. Another thing that's probably been mentioned in the other reviews, it's very well designed and contrary to what I was anticipating before using this thing, it's almost unoticable when connected to the controller, it doesn't add enough weight to notice and it's still comfortable to hold while gaming. Personally I think it looks pretty cool too. Not a must have accesory, but far from useless and unecessary. |
works great
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| Review Date: November 26, 2007 |
| Reviewer: DejaLiyah, NY, USA |
| I bought this for my husband whose on the Xbox 360 alot. he loves to chat with his friends and needed this to type faster. He has no complaints. He said it's a very comfortable and useful keyboard and loves it. He types much faster now instead of using the on screen keyboard. |
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