Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit (Xbox 360) - PC and Console Games (Microsoft)

Recharge your Xbox 360 Wireless Controller while you play and kiss disposable batteries goodbye! Complete with a charging cable and rechargeable battery pack, the Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit is all you need to juice up your Xbox 360 Wireless Controller - even in the midst of battle.

Customer Reviews of Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit (Xbox 360)

Max Standring
Goole, England
1st November 2008

A good product if you fit the criteria
This piece of kit does what it says. It provides you with a rechargeable battery and the cable that lets you charge it through your xbox while you play. This is good because if your controller runs out of charge in game you can just plug it in and continue playing as it charges.

This is not the most ideal solution for all however. While charging, your controler is effectively a wired controller and comes with all the drawbacks involved with wired controllers (tangled wires, mess and lack of range especially as the cable is not too long) Thus I recommend that you get the Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit - White (Xbox 360) for your controllers that are only used for multiplayer and seperate Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack (Xbox 360) for your third and fourth wireless controllers ( the play and charge has one and the quick charge kit has one too) so taht when you need to charge your controllers you dont have them all sticking out of your xbox making a huge mess. This set up means that if you have 4 controllers, only 3 can be charged at a time but if its a problem, replace the last extra battery with another play and charge kit. Sure, its another wire but its cheeper than the quick charge kit for just one. If thats a deal, replacve it instead with another quick charge kit but you will have to pay a bit more but at least you will also be able to charge your main controller when not playing.

This is another issue. You can not charge using this unless the console is on. This is bad for those looking to save energy and do not want to hear that (admit it) load noise your xbox produces all the time when charging. When you turn the console off with the cable plugged in with your controller, the controller will charge at the cost of your xbox still making noise as if its on which is dissapointing and irritating.

To summerise, the play and charge kit is great for charging your main controller as you play but the fact that it betrays the point of a wireless controller to do so means that its not the best option for all your controllers unless your existence concists of playing 4 player games for rediculessly long periods of time where you need to be able to have them all charging while they are playing all the time which betrays the point in having wireless controllers instead of the cheeper Xbox 360 Wired Controller for WINDOWS PC ones.

So with all the problems, why has this got 5 stars? And also, what is with the title of this review?

Look at it this way. for £3 more than just the battery on its own, you are getting the battery and a cable that lets you charge it while playing which is cool and usefull even though it does not suit all charging needs. It also looks cool and fits with the theme of the xbox 360 console and accessories as well as being an official microsoft product which is good if you have a dislike of third party products (like i do).

In conclusion, if you have read this review and think that this product fits your needs, there is no reason not to buy it.

traveler
UK
20th September 2008

Dont buy this one buy the mains powered dual charger!
I have both chargers and this one uses power through the Xbox and doesnt seem to charge as good as the MAINS/DUAL quick charge kit,prices are very similar too,just passing on my info so you dont make the same mistakes!

Gary Dresh
Scotland, UK
27th August 2008

Unofficial Play & Charge kit.
I ordered this play & charge kit, as I was told it was an official microsoft product from a seller called 'ambertouch' the kit that arrived is an unofficial play and charge kit.

I plugged it in, waitied about 6 hour and the battery still did not charge, also the kit got VERY hot, hot enough to burn your hand.

Would not buy this product ever again, as the unofficial version is clearly dangerous and does not work.

Badassbab
Haywards Heath, West Sussex, United Kingdom
19th July 2008

Xbox 360 reliability
I've bought two of these and now they both don't work. I've also had to buy a spare rechargeable as that broke down too. So that's three products in the space of a year that I have had to replace. I will try the quick charge kit to see if that is any better though I've heard that breaks down too...much like my 360 did the other month...though at least that was replaced free of charge.

Funboy
u.k.
17th July 2008

Easy.
Easier than constantly charging and changing batteries.
Normal recharge batteries do not register a full charge in the dashboard.
This does and lasts longer. Wire not really a problem as it is very long
and is fairly quick to charge with a red/green light indicator system.