Best rechargable battery pack for the 360

ZerotypeX

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I was wondering which rechargable battery pack is the best to use. I hear alot of people say the Nyko rechargable ones didn't fit in the the controller or that the battery would not survive the 25 hours of play time. It seems that a lot of people went with the 1st party Microsoft one, but that one is rather expensive.

I went to Wal-Mart a while ago with friends and saw this...
DSC03632.jpg



I have never seen the charge station and charge cable pack together before. I bought it for $29.99, I thought it was a pretty good deal considering that the charge station itself is $29.99 and the cable is like $10.

Do you guys think I should keep this or go with the microsoft one?

I know Microcenter has the Quick Charge Kit for $20 this Monday, but there is no Microcenter here in Indiana :bomb:.
 
Yup. Have the MS Quick charge kit and it has saved me so much money. I haven't been counting how many hours I've used a pack before having to recharge it again, but it lasts a good while and the recharge is only like 2 hours or so.

use the google checkout and get the battery packs for 3.88!!!!!!!!!! Just got an extra one for my brother.
 
Yes. Get the MS ones. I bought two of those Nyko ones and neither of them charged any of my battery packs. You won't go wrong with Microsoft.
 
I got a pack of 4x AA (2200mAh) and 4x AAA(2200mAh) that comes with a USB charger. All for $14 at Fry's. I have an old USB to wall adapter so I'm all good.
 
the new eneloop rechargeable batteries are suppose to be good. they come precharged and it has a better self-discharge rate than other NiMH batteries. i'm using my old rechargeable energizers myself and they seem to be doing fine. well my other pair seemed to lost a lot of it's capacity.
 
[quote name='strdr4']Yup. Have the MS Quick charge kit and it has saved me so much money. I haven't been counting how many hours I've used a pack before having to recharge it again, but it lasts a good while and the recharge is only like 2 hours or so.

use the google checkout and get the battery packs for 3.88!!!!!!!!!! Just got an extra one for my brother.[/QUOTE]


where can this be had for $3.88
 
The one pictured in the opening post I have read nothing but terrible reviews about it. Batteries wont hold charge or they plain just won't charge at all. I went with the official stuff from MS. I figured it's not worth saving the money it the product is crap.
 
I have the official. I was lucky, my friend was buying a speaker set from dell and his order was below the freeshiping rate so he filled it with the charge kit and sold me his for 10 dollars. Works great, no complaints. I love the fact that I can recharge my controlelr by the use of my computer's USB port aswell!
 
I bought a Nyko rechargable battery last month when it was on sale. When I used it, it caused my controller started acting "funny." I was playing Zuma and it started shooting on its own. I put back the old MS battery pack and everything was fine once again. I did this a couple of times to make sure, but I ended up with the same results. I guess if you want quality stick with MS brand.
 
[quote name='scp89']
[quote name='strdr4']Yup. Have the MS Quick charge kit and it has saved me so much money. I haven't been counting how many hours I've used a pack before having to recharge it again, but it lasts a good while and the recharge is only like 2 hours or so.

use the google checkout and get the battery packs for 3.88!!!!!!!!!! Just got an extra one for my brother.[/quote] where can this be had for $3.88[/quote]

Yes, where can this battery pack for 3.88 be obtained?

So far, everyone has said they either had a bad experience with the NYko ones and good experiences with the Microsoft one (except one poster). I guess I will go with offical one then, but want to spend the least money on it since money is hard to come by right now.

I dunno if I can PM the Microcenter ad since I would have to borrow my roomie's car and is a bit hesitant on asking, but I did find a MS quick charge kit for $21.41 at Buy.com with Google checkout and shipping added. http://www.buy.com/prod/Xbox_360_Quick_Charge_Kit_B4Z_00001/q/loc/62440/202540728.html
That is like getting it at a store should I can't borrow my roomie's car.
 
use the google checkout deal on the front page. I thought everyone knew about this. cdunivrse has the battery pack for 13.88. Creating a new google account saves you 10 bucks.
 
[quote name='coltcannon']Anyone buying 360 specific packs is an idiot. $12 for 24 AA NiMH with charger shipped from all-battery.com[/quote]

Oh yeah? Why don't you record your actual playtime and prove it to us that your AA NiMH non-MS XBOX360 approved batteries actually last as long as the 1st party battery paks? If you can prove that AA rechargeables last as long as or longer than the MS ones, I rest my case and accept being an idiot.

I easily topped 25 hours gameplay a week in January when I was playing GoW 5-6 hours a day (was unemployed). Not once did the battery life gauge (upper corner of XBOX guide) go below 2 bars (I play with rumble on). I just recharge on Sundays to be ready for the week. THese batteries are optimized for and only 360 controllers. They were tested and made to provide the longest operation time for one specific product. The batteries you see at the stores may not be optimized for stuff such as the continuous illumination on the controller, rumble, and wi-fi transfer/reception. That is why a few years ago they started making batteries specific for certain uses such as Duracell Ultra and Energizer Titanium to deal with power-eating devices such as cameras and handheld gaming devices. 24 rechargeable batteries for $12...you have to wonder what kind of quality they are in terms of dealing with a device such as a 360 controller.

We also have the convenience. 24 AA batteries sitting around? People take them, you use them for other things, it gets misplaced, you don't know which ones to charge and when, etc. I, on the other hand, always knows where my paks are and I can 100% rely on them to work. How small is your charging dock? My MS dock is small as my hand. I can also take off the cord and the whole thing will fit in my cargo shorts or in my game backpack with everything else.

EDIT:

Charge and play kit is $19.99 and defeats the whole purpose of wi-fi (not to mention the console has to be on for it to charge)

Quick Charge kit is $29.99 (only $10 more) and does come with one battery pak.

Battery paks are only $11.99 - trade in some crappy games at Gamecrazy and voila
 
For the record, I have the exact Nyko pack you pictured above and I think it works great. The batteries charge quickly and hold a charge for a long time. The base is solidly built.

The batteries didn't slide into the controller as easily as the 1st party packs when I first got it, but have since loosened up and work like a charm.
 
[quote name='nintendokid']Oh yeah? Why don't you record your actual playtime and prove it to us that your AA NiMH non-MS XBOX360 approved batteries actually last as long as the 1st party battery paks? If you can prove that AA rechargeables last as long as or longer than the MS ones, I rest my case and accept being an idiot.

I easily topped 25 hours gameplay a week in January when I was playing GoW 5-6 hours a day (was unemployed). Not once did the battery life gauge (upper corner of XBOX guide) go below 2 bars (I play with rumble on). I just recharge on Sundays to be ready for the week. THese batteries are optimized for and only 360 controllers. They were tested and made to provide the longest operation time for one specific product. The batteries you see at the stores may not be optimized for stuff such as the continuous illumination on the controller, rumble, and wi-fi transfer/reception. That is why a few years ago they started making batteries specific for certain uses such as Duracell Ultra and Energizer Titanium to deal with power-eating devices such as cameras and handheld gaming devices. 24 rechargeable batteries for $12...you have to wonder what kind of quality they are in terms of dealing with a device such as a 360 controller.

We also have the convenience. 24 AA batteries sitting around? People take them, you use them for other things, it gets misplaced, you don't know which ones to charge and when, etc. I, on the other hand, always knows where my paks are and I can 100% rely on them to work. How small is your charging dock? My MS dock is small as my hand. I can also take off the cord and the whole thing will fit in my cargo shorts or in my game backpack with everything else.

EDIT:

Charge and play kit is $19.99 and defeats the whole purpose of wi-fi (not to mention the console has to be on for it to charge)

Quick Charge kit is $29.99 (only $10 more) and does come with one battery pak.

Battery paks are only $11.99 - trade in some crappy games at Gamecrazy and voila[/QUOTE]


I'm not about to get scientific and try and prove how much time my batteries get to some teenager named "nintendokid" on the internet, but here's my experience. I bought an energizer recharger with 4 2500maH batteries for $19.99. I've had to change them once after a month of play. I put at least 25 hours into them. Not sure exactly when the battery meter dropped on the dashboard because it seems to be wildly inaccurate--every day it reads something different.

anyway, $19.99 < $41.99.
 
[quote name='Apossum']I'm not about to get scientific and try and prove how much time my batteries get to some teenager named "nintendokid" on the internet, but here's my experience. I bought an energizer recharger with 4 2500maH batteries for $19.99. I've had to change them once after a month of play. I put at least 25 hours into them. Not sure exactly when the battery meter dropped on the dashboard because it seems to be wildly inaccurate--every day it reads something different.

anyway, $19.99 < $41.99.[/quote]

I'm 24, son, and I wasn't talking to you. I was directing it to the guy who called everyone an idiot for buying the official MS ones. Who are you to jump in? Unless you are coltcannon's bitch and feel the need to back him up, this discussion doesn't concern you. Just walk away.

Edit: why don't you go buy yourself some MadCatz 360 controllers if you are so price-conscious. I mean, obviously $24.99 < $49.99. No. You are probably sporting 3-4 official wireless controllers like everyone else.

nintendokid > you and your whole bloodline, all the way to the crusades
 
I've used NiMHs, the Play and Charge, and the Quick Charge. The play and Charge is useless - it charges slowly, and the charge doesn't seem to last. Using it, I was plugged up to the console easily half of the time.

NiMHs work great if you can keep up with them. It's a little bit of a pain to dump out the batteries and replace them with that set you think is charged. Think about doing this during an Xbox Live match; it just takes a little time. Remember that any charged NiMHs you leave laying around are losing that charge while you don't use them.

I love the Quick Charge and extra battery. It charges fast, the batteries swap out fast, and the charge lasts a good long time. It's definitely more convenient than the NiMHs, but I couldn't say if it's worth the price difference to everyone. Buying it certainly doesn't make you an idiot.
 
[quote name='nintendokid']I'm 24, son, and I wasn't talking to you. I was directing it to the guy who called everyone an idiot for buying the official MS ones. Who are you to jump in? Unless you are coltcannon's bitch and feel the need to back him up, this discussion doesn't concern you. Just walk away.

Edit: why don't you go buy yourself some MadCatz 360 controllers if you are so price-conscious. I mean, obviously $24.99 < $49.99. No. You are probably sporting 3-4 official wireless controllers like everyone else.

nintendokid > you and your whole bloodline, all the way to the crusades[/QUOTE]


Oh, sorry. I didn't think 24 year olds got into seriously angry debates about batteries on the internet. :lol: sit back, relax, and lose the internet tough guy shtick. I was just confirming that I've had the same experience as coltcannon.

This is a message board, where people discuss things--when someone needs clarification or information, someone else jumps in and gives it. likewise about opinions. We aren't in a social situation where a person needs to mind themselves about interrupting someone's conversation. try not to get emotional about it. I don't know coltcannon and we aren't part of some...rechargeable battery....gang..or I don't know, this post is already basic enough :lol:

btw, your analogy about madcatz controllers is weak. Those controllers are not of the same quality as MS controllers. The batteries, however, do the same trick. it has nothing to do with price consciousness, I just happened to buy the batteries before looking into MS' solution.
 
[quote name='captmurphy']For the record, I have the exact Nyko pack you pictured above and I think it works great. The batteries charge quickly and hold a charge for a long time. The base is solidly built.

The batteries didn't slide into the controller as easily as the 1st party packs when I first got it, but have since loosened up and work like a charm.[/quote]

i too own that exact package shown above, and mine works perfectly fine. the only thing i had a problem was to get the annoying sticker logo off the battery. i've played for about 3-4 hours straight.
 
I work at Game Crazy & every single Nyko charge station we have sold has come back (about 4 or 5). We've even gotten in the habit of not selling them (by putting them in the back) or selling them with extreme caution (by warning the customers). We have had zero issues with the Microsoft Play & Charge kit...and we've sold dozens of those.
So, I'm not saying the Nyko kits don't work (they've worked for a few posters here), I'm just saying the Microsoft kits have a muuuuch better track record.
 
[quote name='nintendokid']I'm 24, son, and I wasn't talking to you. I was directing it to the guy who called everyone an idiot for buying the official MS ones. Who are you to jump in? Unless you are coltcannon's bitch and feel the need to back him up, this discussion doesn't concern you. Just walk away.

Edit: why don't you go buy yourself some MadCatz 360 controllers if you are so price-conscious. I mean, obviously $24.99 < $49.99. No. You are probably sporting 3-4 official wireless controllers like everyone else.

nintendokid > you and your whole bloodline, all the way to the crusades[/quote]

I second the rechargeable AA's. You can use them for other things around the house as well as your controllers. Plus, I'm not wasting $12 for one battery pack. Oh, and nintendokid, you have just earned the privilege as the second person on my ignore list!
 
You guys do know that if you plug the play and charge kit in before you shut the console off that it will charge right. You must leave your console and controller on to long or something. I play at least 6 hours a day and i hardly ever have problems with my controller charging
 
if you think about it, it is pretty pointless to buy MS controller specific battery packs when you can spend the same amount on rechargeable batteries that can be used for other devices. and you usually get 4 batteries compared to only 2 with the quick charge kit. there's also no evidence that MS specifically tuned this batteries to work with the controller, they seem to be just NiMH batteries bounded together.
 
Man nintendokid, you are quite a cunt. I figure calling some one an idiot on a forum doesnt even raise eyebrows, but you seemed to get quite riled. I cant understand paying the same for those MS batteries if they perform the same, the NiMH i dont feel bad when i can throw them away. It seems there are quite alot of people who agree with me. Buying the MS packs, no matter what the cost, is un-CAG-like.
 
Rechargeable AAs always drain faster than the MS battery packs from my experience. Just going through CoD2, I had to change NiMH AAs at least four times. The rumble use with the machine guns and then headset use really drains the batteries badly.
 
I have a MS battery pack and rechargeable AA's. I can say that both sides of this battery pack/rechargeables debate are right depending on what was used. MS battery pack is better than 2 800 mAh AA rechargeables. MS battery pack is definitely worse than 2 2000+ mAh AA rechargeables. MAh in the consumer world is used as a rating of the charge capacity of the battery. If the mAh number is higher then the battery lasts longer. Since the battery pack and rechargeables mostly use NiMH the only major difference would be the charge capacity.
 
[quote name='strdr4']Yup. Have the MS Quick charge kit and it has saved me so much money. I haven't been counting how many hours I've used a pack before having to recharge it again, but it lasts a good while and the recharge is only like 2 hours or so.[/QUOTE]
WHOA! I use rechargable batteries. I get >20 hours of playtime and it takes
 
i bought some charger off of ebay for $2 + $8 shipping from Hong Kong

its obviously a rip off, but it works fine for me
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Rechargeable AAs always drain faster than the MS battery packs from my experience. Just going through CoD2, I had to change NiMH AAs at least four times. The rumble use with the machine guns and then headset use really drains the batteries badly.[/QUOTE]

Really, I have my rechargable batteries that I've swapped out twice so far, so I'm probably getting 20-30 hours of play on them. I'm sure it'll get lower as time goes on, but still, I got 24 for $20, with the charger.

It is annoying if they die in an Xbox Live match, but it doesn't happen enough to worry about.

Not to say that there are any "bad" moves here, anything has to be better than just buying normal batteries for the controller.
 
I have had no problems with the Nyko kit.

I have also had no problems using NiMh AA's. Just make sure you get AA's that are from a reputable brand and are at least 2500 ma.
 
NiMH's lose ~3% charge per day w/o use. The key is keeping a fresh set in the charger. Also, you might look at getting Rayovac Hybrid NiMH's. They lose less than 1% per day and come precharged. A 4 pack is ~$9 at Wal-Mart and there is a $5 coupon available.

I use both the NiMH's and the MS rechargable batteries. I keep the play-n-charge plugged into my PC. If you are on the fence and also have a Wii...NiMH's are the way to go.

For the OP, a lot of the negative reviews claim the batteries won't even charge...but most of those people are idiots and don't take the clear sticker off of the battery (or don't realize it is there).
 
Thank you everyone for your input

I have decided to go with the Microsoft quick charge kit and extra battery from buy.com for around $34 using google checkout. Not that bad considering just a few more dollars for the offical thing. Going to go return the Nyko one when I have a chance.

The rechargable double A batteries are a great idea, considering those for back ups should the microsoft batteries die on me while playing.

mtxbass1,
Thanks for the link, read it and made my conclusion. Sorry about the picture, I thought this was a new product from Nyko and thought I share.

h2dk,
Yea, read a bunch of reviews about people not removing the plastic between the connectors.

Well...time to wait until the stuff arrives...hope it arrives soon.
 
I have the nyko batteries. I found that they only get full charge if you charge both of them at the same time, otherwise you get only a few hours from them. Which means that I charge both of them while I am sleeping.
 
So can someone tell me how many volts the battery packs are? Are they 3v or only 2.4v?

If they are only 2.4v, I can't see how it's any better than my Energizer 2500 mAH batteries.

If it's 3 volts then that explains how they would have more play time.
 
I love the internet.

I'm 24, son :lol: Kids.

Anyways, back on point. I use 2500mAh Energizer batteries for my Wavebird and Logi PS2/Xbox controllers. They suck. Based on the playtime I get with the Xbox controller, I went with the Play and Charge kit from MS. If it wasn't a gift, I probably would have gotten the Quick Charge kit. My MS battery is great. I think I've charged it two or three times since Xmas. I don't play for 5-6 hours at a time, but I do get in a decent amount of time on the console.

Go with one of the official options. I just got an extra controller from the MicroCenter sale, and will pick up a spare pack. I'll be able to charge the second controller on my PC at any time and still stay wireless.

Based on experience, I get about three days with the AAs before I have to switch them out. And since I have rechargeable batterys in everything from controllers to kid's toys and PDAs to remotes, less is better for me.
 
Just received the quick charge kit and the extra battery pack today. They are charging now. I will try them out when they are done charging
 
So do people prefer Quick Charge or Play & Charge. I think I would like the Quick Charge better, but I really don't like the idea od spending 40 bux. ehh I guess it's better then buying batteries all the time.
 
it's not 40 bucks. it's 29.99 and comes with a battery pack.
Use google checkout and it's 20 bucks.

I exaggerated when i said it took 2 hours to charge. I timed it and it was one hour for one battery pack.
 
The batterys are doing great...been playing alot with my friends. I believe they are still full (thats what the indicator said).

The only problem I had with it was when I was playing Gears of War...my left trigger button was like held down and I was shooting everywhere, but after the round it was normal again. Don't know if it was the controller, battery, or something in the game, but all is well now.

Also...it said it takes about 2 hours to charge one battery and 4 hours to charge 2 batteries. I charged 2 batteries and it was about 3.5 hours which wasn't bad.

I'm enjoying them and the quick charge kit looks pretty neat on my desk, lol.l
 
Using NiMH AA's or any AA's in the 360 controller is an absolute waste of time. Why is it so fucking hard to get the batteries out of the battery holder. After the first time I tried to get the batteries out I went out and bought a play and charge kit + extra battery
 
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