Believe it or not, my Xbox Elite Controller broke yesterday. I purchased this second controller, this time at Best Buy, on August 10th, for the 2-year warranty, so lasted literally only 2 weeks. It was the usual LB bumper button, and even one of the Best Buy employees mentioned that a lot of these controllers were returned for that same problem, and his LB broke in 9 months, which is about the same time that my first one lasted.
The warranty that I bought at Amazon, through a third party seller, reimbursed the cost, less tax, but if I buy another controller, I have to buy another warranty, as that warranty has been "fulfilled".
However, when I went to Best Buy, I was hoping they can repair the controller through Geek Squad, and that the warranty will continue. I was afraid that if they replace it, I have to buy yet another warranty for the new controller, from my experience with that past Amazon third party seller.
To my delightful surprise, they gave me a new controller, and since it broke within 2 weeks, the warranty starts yesterday, rather than August 10th, which was really nice.
Before, when I thought you had to buy warranty each time the controller breaks, paying $20 every month or every other month was not worth the controller, and I only recommended this controller if you can stomach paying this amount. For me, it was a must, as the DS4 was THAT bad. You need the XIM 4, that allows me to use the Elite with the DS4.
Now, however, I can 100% without reservation recommend the XBox Elite Controller, only as long as you buy it from Best Buy (pun intended) with the 2-warranty. I don't think it's that "bad" to pay $20 every 2 years. Further, very soon after, the next-gen consoles will be coming out with new controllers *prays for DS5 off-set analog sticks* so at most, it will be $40, unless, miraculously, your most recently replaced Xbox Elite Controller can last past the warranty.
Hopefully this third controller will hold out, but if the notorious LB bumper breaks again, I can get a new one at no cost.
Conclusion: Buy Xbox Elite Controller at Best Buy
The How of Happiness Review
The warranty that I bought at Amazon, through a third party seller, reimbursed the cost, less tax, but if I buy another controller, I have to buy another warranty, as that warranty has been "fulfilled".
However, when I went to Best Buy, I was hoping they can repair the controller through Geek Squad, and that the warranty will continue. I was afraid that if they replace it, I have to buy yet another warranty for the new controller, from my experience with that past Amazon third party seller.
To my delightful surprise, they gave me a new controller, and since it broke within 2 weeks, the warranty starts yesterday, rather than August 10th, which was really nice.
Before, when I thought you had to buy warranty each time the controller breaks, paying $20 every month or every other month was not worth the controller, and I only recommended this controller if you can stomach paying this amount. For me, it was a must, as the DS4 was THAT bad. You need the XIM 4, that allows me to use the Elite with the DS4.
Now, however, I can 100% without reservation recommend the XBox Elite Controller, only as long as you buy it from Best Buy (pun intended) with the 2-warranty. I don't think it's that "bad" to pay $20 every 2 years. Further, very soon after, the next-gen consoles will be coming out with new controllers *prays for DS5 off-set analog sticks* so at most, it will be $40, unless, miraculously, your most recently replaced Xbox Elite Controller can last past the warranty.
Hopefully this third controller will hold out, but if the notorious LB bumper breaks again, I can get a new one at no cost.
Conclusion: Buy Xbox Elite Controller at Best Buy
The How of Happiness Review
There is a rather large problem wuth the quality of controllers in recent years. Older controllers with less moving parts were durable enough, but aren't as responsive or intuitive as modenr day ones. While new models have loads of fancy additions and features, they rarely last. The best controller I've found is the Logitech F510. buttons are clicky, analogue sticks are weighty, but even that has problems. The shoulder buttons aren't traditional buttons, it's just a strip of bendy plastic. Every once in a while it bends too far into the controller and doesn't click ou. I need to open it up and bend them back into shape myself, it's moronic. I've tried many different makes, many different models, and all of them either break easy or feel like a toy. (At least this one's an easy fix)
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame about this gen's controller and lack of quality control, as the DS4 rubber tops on the analog sticks tear off, not to mention how uncomfortable it is; the XBox One regular controller micro-usb port bends and no longer connects, and of course its Elite counterpart.
DeleteI heard Logitech controllers are supposed to be really good, I didn't realize that it also is rather shoddy with the shoulder buttons, which is a shame. Have you looked into their newer models, I think there's a 710? But it's good that the bumpers can be fixed, though it's rather annoying to have to keep bending them back into shape.
Have you tried the Xbox Elite. It has excellent quality as the materials are all very solid and not flimsy, and brilliantly designed, but poor execution on the left bumper. But if you get it at Best Buy with warranty, you're guaranteed the controller will last at least 2 years.
They are fantastic controllers, with that one caveat (oh, and the D'pad's a little bad but that's whatever) They are great, I haven't used a better anologue stick in my life, and when they're working properly the shoulder and trigger button's are good.
DeleteI haven't used the 710's, I was thinking about one when it was announced, however it being wireless could be problematic, even a good wireless will have a few ms delay on it just by virtue of the technology. Sure you don't have to use it wirelessly, but just it being there can cause issues. I have tried the Xbox Elite, I'm not a fan of the larger controllers from Xbox, and they're wireless, and the fact they only have Xinput capabilities is quite a setback to me as I play on PC primarily. (and we don't have a Best Buy in england, just an FYI)
Another controller that surprised me actually, is how good the Steam Controller is. They were having a sale over summer last year, my dear ol' mum bought me one because why not, and it is fantastic quality. The trackpads it uses take a little getting used to, and it doesn't work natively with every game on the market, but those it does it feels pretty good. Hasn't broke on my yet after like 15 months, only thing I dislike is that they replaced the left Dpad with a trackpad too. That being said, it doesn't work for every game, twin stick shooters specifically just don't work, and while you can play RTS games on it, your thumb will not be able to keep up with what we expect our wrist to do. It will get tired if you play for a long time (or play a really intense game like Broodwar)
I have a feeling I wouldn't like the Logitech since it looks to be symmetric analog controls! I find it very interesting how people feel very differently about the controllers. As you know, I hate the DS4 with a passion, but others actually find it the best. I think the point is, the XIM 4 is brilliant b/c you can chose which controller you want to use, regardless of Console or PC (except for Wii U, sadly enough).
DeleteI believe the XBox One and its Elite counterpart are wired but can be wireless for the PC. I'm like you, I hate wireless b/c even though I'm not such a great gamer to feel the lag, I hate when the screen says "battery low". Can you imagime you're fighting Slave Knight Gael on NG+7, but then says battery low.
I'm very glad that there are variety of controllers out there so we can have a choice. Yes, the Steam controller does look like it's high quality even from the photos. I'm glad you're enjoying it! do you like it better than the Logitech?
I don't hate the dualshock controller line, they're not bad for me, but I don't like them either. The build is not bad but not good, wears down over time. The shape isn't too bad, but it is a little boney and small. The button's are alright, but nothing special, for me they're the baseline for what a controller needs, the absolute bottom. If you don't match it in every aspect, I wouldn't even consider it. I'm fine with symmetrical analogue sticks, though I agree it's better to have the dpad on the bottom and stick on top, I've gotton used to them both, it isn't a dealbreaker for me anymore.
DeleteI still use my Logitech for most of my games, the steam controller isn't very "plug in and play" friendly, using it's own unique format that most games don't natively support, and (steam integrated support will only go so far). on top of it being quite drastically different from the types of peripherals I've used for nearly 20 something years in controllers and M&K, even though I can quite confidently say the build quality is that much better than any other controller I've used, it's kind've unfair to call it a controller in a way. It's uncomparable to traditional periphiral's, in a way it's gone beyond that.
I like your very objective analysis of the DS4 because it IS bare minimum, but I hate it with such passion b/c it kills my hands. Boney and small are good descriptions of it. I hope that Sony comes to their senses and respects FPS gamers, and have off-set analog sticks. It seems that they want to be known as the FPS console to "corner the market" given all the early access stuff they negotiated, since they have the RPG market down.
Deleteyou're very lucky that the placements of analog sticks don't bother you, so you can use a wider variety of controllers.
that's a shame, you'd think being a steam controller, it should work on all steam games. But it's great that the Logitech works on the rest of the games.
It does work on all steam games, kinda... games that were released before the steam controller do work, however to varying degree's. Some games like some Call of Duties can't look around fast enough even on super high look sensitivities. some Indie games like Aquaria create a mouse acceleration, where if you touch the thing your cursor flies like 10000 pixel's off the screen, you need to fiddle about with settings to get it working right. Steam can read it as mouse and keyboard (kinda) inputs, but with older games they need to specifically code in support for it to really... unlock it's true potential, is a good way of saying it.
DeleteThanks for the clarification. So I'm assuming that with the newer Steam games, the steam controller works. I'm lucky that the Xbox Elite works for all Steam games. I still have yet to finish Hollow Knight and I got this cute cat ARPG that I want to play as well on Steam! I really can't go back to any other controller, the Elite is just so comfortable for me!
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