I have purchased three of these play and charge kits. These kits are made of the same high quality plastic that the controller is made from. The cable and connector are great and the perfect length for me. At first glance these seem like a great accessory to have, but every time these battery packs start to lose their ability to hold a charge. This will depend on how much they are used and charged based on the user, but in my experience they didn't last very long before they wouldn't hold a charge. While they did work at optimal performance they had a very good battery life and charge relatively quickly. I did have an issue with one of my gaming headsets though and these charge kits. While the battery pack was charging it created interference with the headphones. This created a buzzing noise that was very distracting. Overall if you can find them cheaper than a pack of non rechargeable batteries then the charge and play kit is a good deal. I would suggest purchasing a AA battery charger and rechargeable batteries over this any day.

leerow

USA

Anyone who uses a wireless controller knows how irritating it is to have the battery die in the middle of game play. With the play and charge controller set up I am able to keep playing even on a controller that the battery just died, I use it to keep the controller turned on for Netflix marathons, and I love that the cord is long enough that I don't have to be right next to the TV/system to use it. I have even had this cord walked through (by animals and myself), it may pull the controller off of where it was, but it usually stays connected and hasn't suffered any ill effects from this kind of thing happening. I have had to replace other play and charge type set ups because the dog/roommate walked through them too many times and damaged the components to where it didn't charge anymore. I have also never had to replace the batteries or battery packs on this controller set up yet and we have had it for several years and lots of use.

CordyBrannan

USA

The Play and charge kit is awesome! This kit comes with a chargeable battery pack and a charger that you plug into your controller to charge it. You can charge your controller while playing too. I love this product because i don't have to worry about buying batteries anymore.

colekren

USA

I picked up an Xbox Play and Charge Kit after I had my Xbox 360 for a couple of months and had burned through way too many AA batteries. It was a great purchase and I hardly had to plug it in to recharge at all. The only downside was that my rechargeable battery didn't last more than about 18 months, which was rather disappointing. It is in cases like this where the included cable is even more useful. It is extremely long so I was able to continue playing with no issue whatsoever. You really can't beat the price for this one and it's much more convenient (and less wasteful!) than using conventional batteries. I'm planning to pick up another one soon to replace the dead one, hopefully the battery lasts longer this time. Overall, great product!

bestarkey

Westerville, OH

Upon buying an Xbox 360, you have two different methods of powering your wireles controller. Option 1 is to use AA betteries. This method is more expensive and you get somewhere around 30 hours of use out of the batteries before you need to replace them. Option 2 is to buy the Play and Charge Kit. Using this method, you simply need to attach the battery pack to the underside of the controller and plug the cord from the controller to the xbox 360. This method will allow you to continue playing even when your controller is recharging and will even allow you to continue playing when the battery stops holding a charge. If your wireless controller runs out of batteries while you're playing a game, a menu simply appears on screen alerting you that it needs to be charged again. There are no real draw backs to using this method over the standard batteries. You'll save money and you wont find you're self scrounging every inch of the house trying to find a battery before you can resume your gaming session.

dustin11

Federal Way, WA

I currently own two of these devices. Once fully charged, the battery runs for a long time. You can charge the battery whilst playing, and even plug the charger into a wireless controller with no battery and use it. If you own an Xbox 360 you must own at least one of these. The price, however, is a little steep.

h0lic

Huntsville, TX

This charger does what it's supposed to. The cable is long enough that you would probably not miss wireless, at least for the few hours it takes to charge the battery pack. I started using this after my rechargeable AA's started dying on me, now I don't have to schedule play time around recharging them!  It doesn't take too long to recharge either.  This is well worth the investment especially if you play a lot of games and have been using throw away batteries to charge your controller.  Also, one should note that these are still rechargeable batteries being used here and so basically at some point the charge will not hold for these battery packs either.  But I've had mine for a year or so now and it is still working very well.  I really recommend picking this up if you have an xbox 360.  I think it probably should have come with the system actually.  It would have been really smart.  Still, it is a solid product.

teleosy

Duluth, GA

While I prefer the Microsoft Quick Charger, the Charge and Play has some unique benefits.  For one thing, the Charge and Play actually allows you to use the controller without a battery pack at all.  This is great if you really want to conserve your battery and don't need to sit further back from your Xbox.  When I sat closer to my TV I would do this.  It's also significantly cheaper than the Quick Charger. The downside is that the cord isn't long enough to sit all the way across the living room from your Xbox 360, unless you have a small living room.  The other disadvantage is how long it takes to actually completely charge an Xbox 360 battery.  With the play and charge it can take a really long time to actually recharge the battery so you can unplug it, especially if you're playing the whole time.  While you can't play while you're charging the batteries with the quick charger, it charges them in like 4 hours.  It often doesn't cost much more than just buying a battery and is definitely worth it if you don't mind sitting near your Xbox. It is actually possible to sit far away from the Xbox and charge your controller by another electronic item's USB port.  The cord only carries power, not the signal.

ajax77777

Kansas City, KS

About, once a week, I had to replace batteries in my XBOX 360 controllers. That's two batteries per controller, once every week or two. That adds up. Even worse, I would have to take a break in playing a game I was really in to to go buy batteries and or put new ones in. I asked my sister to get me the play and charge kit for my birthday. I was so glad when I got it. I plugged it in and charged it while I played. Before too long it was charged and I could go wireless again. I know what you're thinking. Why not just buy a wired controller? I like having the freedom to move about without tripping people as they walk by. I also keep the controller on my coffee table, so again...no tripping. So, the long a short of it. The battery keeps its charge for a long time. It also doesn't take very long to charge it up so you don't need to worry keeping the cord in for a long time. This would alos make a good Chirstmas gift.

jacobhuffesq

Allentown, PA