The Xbox 360 chatpad...

[OME6A]

or, "The land of worthless gets one more inhabitant".

Engadget's got a nice little review of the snap-on keyboard for the 360 controllers.

Remember these things, which are designed for all 5 of the people that probably use the integrated MSN messenger on Xbox Live?

For chatting only, the whole thing seems like a waste to me. Especially when it's just as easy to send a voice message, though I have sent texts when my mic is unplugged.

For $30, and the fact that you have to use a completely different headset (which comes with it), I still don't see the point.

Now, if the dashboard featured a full-featured web browser, then they'd be on to something.

Key points:

• Players with longer fingers may be annoyed, this thing kind of prevents finger-wraparound.
• The keys are nice and tactile.
• It feels light at first, but after not too long it really starts to affect the balance of the controller.

[Negative Creep]

Originally Posted by OME6A

or, "The land of worthless gets one more inhabitant".

This is all I needed to hear... that, and the asking price (something like $40 or more) for this contraption seems pretty damn steep, if you ask this consumer.

[OME6A]

Yeah, I've noticed clever thread titles tend to get no replies, so that's how that goes.

If you ask me, add-ons like this should never exceed the $20 mark. Not to mention this thing totally screws the pooch by requiring use of a different headset.

[E. Writer]

Originally Posted by OME6A

Remember these things, which are designed for all 5 of the people that probably use the integrated MSN messenger on Xbox Live?

Hey, **** you, I use that!

These words right here are just slot fillers, god damn 8 word rule.

[Focus]

Whenever I use a keyboard on my 360 I just plug in the USB keyboard I bought years back for my PS2 and it works just fine..I don't really see a need to get a smaller keyboard if I already have one that works fine, besides the fact like you said you need a different headset.

[Negative Creep]

Originally Posted by Focus

Whenever I use a keyboard on my 360 I just plug in the USB keyboard I bought years back for my PS2 and it works just fine...

I was thinking the same thing... my $5 USB keyboard works perfectly fine, when I actually need to type out a message that long over XBL.

[TixBomber]

I was just gonna remark with all the same things. Why pay that much money for a qwerty keypad, when people with sasquatch hands like me can barely dial a number on my cell. I hate how everything has to be getting smaller, plus a regular keyboard would be 12,000 times better anyway, you could even get a kick-butt wireless one for less than that plastic piece of diarrhea.

[jwm2]

Well personally i won't be buying one but hey if someone else wants one then its there for them. Even at $40 its better than not having it available at all. Plus who knows, it might actually catch on.

[Negative Creep]

Originally Posted by jwm2

Even at $40 its better than not having it available at all.

FYI: Microsoft is selling them for $29.99 - but thanks for the misinformation, anyway.