Microsoft Chatpad Review
Posted by William on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 9:41 am under Microsoft
Back in May, Shawn discussed the Microsoft Chatpad. I had my first opportunity to mess around with the peripheral yesterday and have neutral feelings about it. Personally, if you want to type on Xbox Live, I think it’s more feasable to simply have USB keyboards instead of a tiny keyboard attached to your controller. Fortunately, the Chatpad is easier to type on than say a cell phone, but they keys are still a bit small. Some people do not like the idea of having to mess with a an actual keyboard, but it’s the way to go in my opinion. I got through Final Fantasy XI for so long doing it that way, I don’t see how the Chatpad is much better unless you simply do not have the available space.
Some people may enjoy the increased weight and feel of the 360 controller with the Chatpad snapped in. Personally, I love the feel of it, but don’t find the keypad part of it all that useful. Even if I am not using my keyboard, I have become insanely fast at typing the old fashioned way on games. I also tend to just send quick voice messages to people more often than typing anything out. If Microsoft wants to do all of us a huge peripheral favor, how about re-introducing the original giant Xbox controllers from back in the day? I absolutely loved the size and feel of those. Many other gamers I have spoken with tend to agree. I think controllers are going back to being too small unfortunately.
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October 22nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
Chat pad is worthless for actual typists, imo. Because actual typists are more at home, when they have a full keyboard rather than the key punching with 1 or 2 fingers. While it is more convienent I agree that a usb keyboard would be better.
Also, FFXI is best on PC.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:57 am
[...] * 150) - (-(Math.random() * 150))) - (-200))John Ingraham wrote an interesting post today onHere's a quick excerptBack in May, Shawn discussed the [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:30 am
I want the "Duke" the original King of controllers,
Ahem. the duke was in the days of controller "S" a way of knighting the best player at the party, and if you do not know what The Duke is, it is the largest conroller ever made.
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
I have one of these. Bought it a month ago, and never really used it. Why type when I can go to a video chat on my 360 ? Or play UNO with 3 friends while we video chat all together at the same time. I think I may just sell my chat pad, as it is pretty useless to me at the moment. It is much better than the alternative though.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I don't know, I thought the Dream Cast Controller was larger.