Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows Review

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $14.99
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I was pretty angry when I discovered that this thing is NOT the genuine article but rather a Chinese third-party device. However, my controller connects to it and stays connected without any problems.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Go to Device Manager

2. Select the "Unknown Device"

3. Choose to update the driver under the Driver tab

4. Choose the 'Browse for a driver' (not the exact words but close)

5. Tell it that you want to pick from the list of device drivers

6. Choose the "Microsoft Common Controller for Windows Class" option

7. Pick the Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver

8. Enjoy

This is how I set it up under Windows 7 x64. Other versions of Windows may differ. So far I haven't experienced any problems or issues. Both Devil May Cry 4 and Grand Theft Auto IV, along with all of my emulators work superbly with it.

However, I do plan on getting the real deal. I don't trust this thing to keep working very long.

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As you can see from the other reviews, this device works very well for some, and not so well for others. Putting aside the interference problem with other 2.4ghz devices such as mice (2.4ghz wireless routers will NOT give you problems), I believe there is a single solution to almost everyone's problem, which I will outline below.

After installing the device & software, I couldn't get my black wireless xbox360 elite controller to sync with the receiver. The ring light on the controller would rotate while trying to connect to the receiver. The light on the receiver would blink attempting to locate the controller. After a few seconds, the ring on the controller would stop rotating, and start blinking. A connection could not be made.

After some research, I found the solution. The issue is with USB power. The receiver needs A LOT of it. If you have other devices on your USB, especially high powered USB keyboards or mice, the receiver might not work. Try removing all USB devices and rebooting your PC with only a PS/2 mouse and keyboard connected. The receiver and controller should sync up immediately, even before you finish booting into windows. This fixed my problem.

If this is your problem, there are two solutions. 1) a USB PCI interface card, or 2) an externally powered USB hub (NOT BUS POWERED). I believe the receiver needs a lot of power because its capable of syncing to four separate devices. The USB on most motherboards simply isn't strong enough. Hope this helps.

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If you have already bought this item skip to `The work around' to get the device to work

My Story:

I purchased this item because my original Microsoft receiver stopped working after the manufacturer's warranty time of 90 days. The device simply was not working one morning. So I searched online for a replacement and thought I was getting the original Microsoft Xbox 360 receiver because it was advertised that way. (at that time this item was called a "Microsoft Gaming Receiver for Windows" but since has had to change the name because of my warnings and letters) Unfortunately the product did not work right off so I had to contact Microsoft gaming for support. Then after trial and error we discovered that Microsoft did not produce this rip off of their product.

Also Microsoft doesn't print the Words "Xbox 360" on the front of the real product,rather they print "Microsoft." On the back the words Microsoft there will be an 'R' in a circle and behind the words Xbox 360 will be a small 'TM.' This product came with a receiver and packaging that looks VERY similar to the real one but it is not. The genuine item is pictured by other buyers, but they are not what you will get. And that is also not what the advertiser is showing in their sell photo, as noted by the words "XBOX 360" printed on the advertiser's sales photo, so the seller is NOT advertising the item to be by Microsoft anymore. So please post a positive vote for my pictures in the item's gallery to have them posted first and more people don't buy this item with that expectation.)

So that's the bad news, but there is good news too........

The good news is, that this product does still work. I have now had mine for way longer than the original Microsoft version, and it still works with everyday usage. (Originally ordered in Feb. 2010 and it is now July 2010)

However the installation was not as simple as the real one. They send the receiver with a driver disk that doesn't work at all with common Operating Systems or OS.

The work around:

Is to use your common driver by Microsoft already installed on your Windows or Vista Disk Drivers area and install the driver manually. Unfortunately this also means you have to reinstall the driver each time you unplug it.

Go to:

Start Menu and open Control panel

Then open

'Hardware and Sound' from control panel for Windows users

for vista users

select 'Additional options'

then from the left hand side open 'Hardware and Sound'.

Then open Device Manager for windows or Vista

Then click on the "Unknown Driver"

Then click on search for additional options and manually install the driver yourself

Then select the 'Microsoft Common Controller for Windows class'

Then it will give a list of drivers for you...... pick the one from Feb of 2007 and install that one.

Then you are good to go and able to play the games you want using your Xbox360 controller.

I completely give this product a SOLID 3.

********

Update 6/17/13:

Originally I rated this item at 2. For a few reasons..... 1) I was lied to about the item being from Microsoft. 2) I couldn't get the item to work with the drive disk they sent with it and had to find my own work around.

However, I still have the item plugged in to my computer and use it almost daily without any other flaws. 3 and a half years later!! While the product was 'sold' to me under false pretenses, it 'does' what Microsoft couldn't, and worked/s longer than 4 months. Not to mention that Amazon is no longer allowing the item to be advertised as a Microsoft item, and it is now being sold as the knock off it truly is........So for that I upgraded the rating to a 3.

However, had I been sold the item as it is currently being advertised.... I would have rated it a solid 4 with the only flaw being that I had to find out how to make it work myself.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows

First off, the receiver and controller/accessories connect very easily and work great. No issues with lag or bad connections.

The downfall here is that unless your game can specifically be setup to map controls to a gamepad/joystick, you're out of luck (kinda). Microsoft doesn't include any mapping software at all, which really doesn't make a lot of sense, since so few PC games would be naturally compatible with the remote.

Luckily, there is a great piece of software called Pinnacle game profiler. It allows you to specifically map each button to a movement/function in any game (customizable by game). You get a free 30 day trial ($20 after that), but it's worth the money. After spending about 15 minutes setting this up, it works great. I have tested it out on Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Call of Duty 2 with no issues.

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As of this writing, the best value for this device is yet to come. Xbox 360 owners will enjoy being able to reuse all types of Xbox 360 wireless controllers on their PC games, but there are two major hangups that will have to be corrected with time.

1) It has been reported this item does not work with Vista yet. I can't comment on this.

2) The "Games for Windows" brand is just getting off the ground. As this brand evolves, each game with this logo on the box will support this controller natively. There won't be any need for mapping software. That means, for old games... you'll have to find something to map the controller.

If you are interested in XNA, get this. XNA (nutshell) is MSFT's platform for future game development, and it includes tools hobbyists can use to make games at home and play them on Windows or their Xbox 360. That makes this item a must-have if you plan to join XNA Creators Club and deploy your games onto your Xbox 360.

Still, the potential of this is really yet to be realized. XNA is in its fledgling state, even though to this point it has to be considered a success. "Games for Windows" has just a couple of titles on the shelf as of this writing, but is intended to explode by the end of the year. It might be that if you're willing to pony up for the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset and Racing Wheel, you may get more value out of this and you can use those items on your PC.

When I compared buying a wired controller versus buying this (I already had two wireless controllers), this is obviously the better value. Just consider the facts above, and look at how things have changed since this writing, and decide for yourself.