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Summary: Another solid product from Microsoft. Comes with the usual high price tag, but it's worth the buy.
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Review also published on DooYoo... Read review
Chatting with friends and family on Xbox LIVE and Windows-based PCs is easy using the Xbox ... more
360 Messenger Kit. This device easily connects to any Xbox 360 controller and provides easy to use chat capabilities while maintaining gameplay functionality in ...
Advantages: Light, Headset Included, Ease of use, Comfortable Disadvantages: High RRP Price
The Xbox 360 Messenger Kit comes in that awful plastic packaging that you cut yourself trying to get into - but once you get past that initial hell, you'll find yourself with a very respectable product.
The Messenger Kit includes both a chat pad & an xbox 360 headset. I should mention now however that the headset that comes with this kit is not the original headset that we are all used to. The difference with this headset is that the ... ...previous headset. Previously the controls were located on a piece of plastic that connected to your controller, however now the controls are located half way up the wire that leads to your ear.
The location of the volume & mute controls may bother those gamers who like to have the mute button at their finger tips, but you soon get used to reaching up to the wire to mute yourself - it's really not a problem.
The Xbox 360 Messenger Kit comes in that awful plastic packaging that you cut yourself trying to get into - but once you get past that initial hell, you'll find yourself with a very respectable product.
The Messenger Kit includes both a chat pad & an xbox 360 headset. I should mention now however that the headset that comes with this kit is not the original headset that we are all used to. The difference with this headset is that the volume & mute controls are in different locations to the previous headset. Previously the controls were located on a piece of plastic that connected to your controller, however now the controls are located half way up the wire that leads to your ear.
The location of the volume & mute controls may bother those gamers who like to have the mute button at their finger tips, but you soon get used to reaching up to the wire to mute yourself - it's really not a problem.
The chat pad itself connects to the bottom of your xbox 360 controller and then the headset connects to the bottom of the chat pad. The weight of the chat pad is quite light, so gaming whilst having it connected to your controller is by no means uncomfortable.
Typing on the chat pad does take some getting used to, however after about 10 minutes you soon get used to it and you'll be typing fast in no time. Gone are the days of spending 10 minutes writing a message to your friend on that on-screen keyboard, hoorah !
The chat pad has a neat little feature whereby if you're playing a game, you can press a shortcut key and a small msn window will appear at the bottom of the screen where you can scroll through your conversations and type to your friends from there. Press the shortcut key again and it disappears - simple & it saves a lot of time going through the xbox guide button.
The chat pad's build quality is very good, despite not weighing very much the parts of the plastic that are at their thinnest are still rather thick, I believe you would have a tough time breaking the plastic. Dropping the chat pad on the floor most likely would not damage it apart from possible scratches. The keys themselves are very flat, so keys coming loose would be a very rare occurance unless you had very long nails and purposely tried to dislodge them.
I'd recommend this product to anyone who frequently sends messages via xbox live, or people who play a lot of games that require you to name your items, etc. People with large fingers may want to give this a miss as obviously each of the keys is rather small so it's possible to hit 2 keys with one push. The headset is exactly the same as the original except for the location of the volume & mute controls so you know what to expect when it comes to the headset.
The RRP of this product is £24.99 but at the time of writing can be purchased from Gameplay.co.uk for £19.99. Slightly expensive, but in my opinion it's worth the money.
Advantages:
Light Comes with headset Easy to use Comfortable
Disadvantages:
Slightly expensive at RRP Keys may be too small for large fingers Volume & Mute controls location may bother some users
Thanks for reading, I hope this helps you make a decision. :)
Summary: Another solid product from Microsoft. Comes with the usual high price tag, but it's worth the buy.
Advantages: Easy To Use, Makes Writing Messages Quicker Disadvantages: Buttons Have Slow reactions Occasionally
Microsoft Xbox 360 Messenger Kit Keyboard
This Xbox 360 Messenger kit is a very helpful product to have if you use windows messenger on Xbox Live.
The keyboard if very simple to use and it makes it much quicker to write messages to other people over Xbox Live. The Keyboard its self is very durable and my one hasn't broken yet so they definitely do last. Attaching the keyboard to your Xbox 360 controller is very easy.
The only disadvantage about ...
Xclusive 04.11.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox 360 Messenger Kit - keyboard
Advantages: Makes messaging a breeze, Can be used without being drawn away from a game Disadvantages: Reduces controller battery life
After spending most of my time in front of a keyboard, i found text entry of any sort on a gaming console to be a tedious task. The Xbox live messenger kit is a tidy little bundle consisting of a wired headset and a neet little qwerty keyboard called a chatpad that clicks in between the 2 handles of the Xbox 360 controller. Although adding quite a chunk to the mass of the Xbox 360 controller, the chatpad is surprisingly streamline and imposes verry ... ...It contains 47 keys including independent number keys and a messenger hot key. The Letters also have 3 shift states giving a healthy collection of symbols for whatever you might need them for. It comes equipped with a jack for the wired headset and a backlight that isnt intrusive on the eyes and allows for use in dimly lit areas. It would have been nice if you could disable the backlight when its not needed because i find it puts slight dent in my ...
All4Slade 22.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox 360 Messenger Kit - keyboard
Advantages: Perfectly designed to fit Disadvantages: Sometimes unresponsive with some keys
MSN on Xbox 360? Perfect!
This ergonomically-designed device fits perfectly and neatly into the bottom of the controller, and has been designed perfectly so that it does not hinder gameplay whilst connected.
MSN can be accessed as usual via the dashboard, or if you have conversations ongoing, you can press the little MSN symbol on the chatpad, and a very little translucent screen pops up during gameplay, so you can type and receive the lastest ... ...intuitive, it is a very useful tool.
Unfortunately, it does take some getting used to, and sometimes the keys are unresponsive or need hard pressing to ensure that the character appears on-screen.
Also unfortunate, this means that sometimes I give up and resort to signing in on my Mac and continuing gameplay.
This does not affect the overall review, however - it is a fantastically designed piece of equipment and is a definite recommendation for ...
cstanley_2 22.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Microsoft Xbox 360 Messenger Kit - keyboard
Product Information for "Microsoft Xbox 360 Messenger Kit - keyboard" »
Manufacturer's product description
Chatting with friends and family on Xbox LIVE and Windows-based PCs is easy using the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit. This device easily connects to any Xbox 360 controller and provides easy-to-use chat capabilities while maintaining gameplay functionality in one easy-to-hold device. The Messenger Kit includes a Chatpad and Xbox 360 Headset.
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