Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 24
 Buyer Beware November 23, 2005
J. Kresge
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I've gone through three of these, and they all had the same problems. A quick view of these reviews and reviews on CircuitCity's website shows the same problems. What makes it even worse is you'll see threads stating the same issues on Saitek's support forums, with their main support guy vehemently denying that there are problems with this gamepad.
The batteries are cheap. They're often dead out of the box (meaning they can't take a charge). They die with minimal use. If you fully charge them too often, the charger kills the batteries.
The analog sticks have a LARGE dead zone, and suffer from calibration issues. The dead zone seems to have been thrown in to hide the calibration issues, so you'd have to hold the stick all the way in one direction to get any response. However, even with that, each stick seems to pull in a direction by default, due to the calibration issues.
I've heard of problems with their range (earlier models were 900mhz, newer ones are 2.4ghz, I own a 900mhz). To be honest, I got mine responding fine about 25 feet away. So while others may have had issues here, I had none.
The main reason to buy a Saitek over, say, a Logitech had to be the grip. Unlike Logitech, this gamepad doesn't feel like a PS2 controller. Personally, I never liked the Playstation brand controllers, so that was the main selling point for me. However, in terms of functionality, I wish I'd have gone with the Logitech.
If you're looking for a gamepad, please follow my advice. First, decide if you want wired or wireless. If you're hooking up your PC to your televison and playing across the living room, then maybe wireless is for you. However, if you're just playing at your PC, please just get a wired controller. Due to the way the base station has to be plugged in, it's practicly the same anyway.
After that, go to CC or Best Buy and FEEL the controllers. The main advantage of a Saitek over Logictech, for example, is that Saitek's don't feel like PS2 controllers. If you love the PS2 style, get a Logitech. If you can't stant the PS2, consider a Saitek or Thrustmaster.
If you do decide on a wireless controller, do NOT buy this one. It has nothing but flaws.
Poor quality in battery life and operation September 15, 2005
Patrick allison Stock-Bordnick (atlanta, georgia United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I purchased this unit and the two batteries stopped charging after 2 weeks. I was sent 2 more from Saitek and after 1 week these both stopped as well..... This is not worth the time and effort, look into other products
 Great feel, one prob February 8, 2006
cyberboomer (lincoln, ne)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I love the feel of this gamepad...after trying several others this is the best. The wireless works ok, i was 20 feet away and it was working.The batteries are what needs improving according to many posts. I thought i had a dead battery but it ended up being a bad connection inside. With a small screwdriver pushed up through the bottom can take apart the battery case. on the positive side of each battery there are two small pieces of plastic. you just need to push these down so the battery has a better chance of connectiing. i also found new batteris at interstate battery store, 1 dollar each. The analog sticks could be a little tighter, but i like the d pad. wireless is great!
 battery problems, poor performance January 2, 2005
E. Brooks (California)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
1 of the 2 rechargable batteries it came with didn't work right out of the box. After over a month, the second battery started having problems; for example, I'd have to keep on re-inserting it into the gamepad or the recharger before it recognized it was in.
I contacted customer support about the problem. They said my batteries were defective and that they would mail me new ones. I never received it, and this was months ago.
There are other problems too. The calibration of the analog sticks gets messed up during gameplay occassionally. Sometimes, the buttons aren't responsive; you press a button and it either doesn't register or registers late. Lastly, the rubber on the analog sticks wear out badly after a year (I don't even use it that much b\c of the battery problems).
The feel of the gamepad alone is good though. The buttons are in comfortable places, and there are enough of them to be able to setup most games. Unfortunately, the performance\quality isn't good.
Problems February 21, 2006
Michael L. Simmons (Dover, NH)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
After 3 days of having this controller, it already started to have problems. The docking station would not pick up charges from the battery anymore making my controller useless. For the amount of money I spent, I am very disappointed.
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