Play & Charge Kit - A must-have for your Xbox 360

One of the best things about the new Xbox 360 Console is the wireless controllers. But since they are wireless, they require batteries which must be changed. And hopefully you have some spares when they drain. But if you have the Play & Charge Kit you will never run out of juice, even when the battery is dead.

•• What it is ••
The Play & Charge Kit is a charging system for the Xbox 360 wireless controllers. Included in the box is a rechargeable battery pack, charging cord, and instructions.

•• Features and Commentary ••
The first thing to note is that the battery back completely replaces the back lid and batteries of the controller. It is a totally self-contained unit. Plugging it in does not add any extra weight to the controller since it has the same amount of batteries as the controller would normally with off-the-shelf Duracells.

Before being used, the batteries should be charged. Since they are Nickel Metal Hydride (NimH), they don't have a memory. What this means is that you don't need to completely drain them before charging. This is the theory anyway. I like to completely charge the batteries and then drain them before I charge them back up. The initial battery charge takes a few hours.

To charge the unit, simply plug the charger into the top of the controller and then the other end into one of the USB slots on the front of your console. The red light on top indicates it is charging. Set it and forget it. But here's the cool part. If you absolutely must play now, you can use the wireless controller as a wired controller while it is plugged in and charging. That is very cool.

Once the red light goes off, the controller is fully charged. Simply unplug everything and you're good to go. At no point do you ever need to take the battery pack off the controller. Try doing that with regular rechargeables.

Another nice feature is that the Play & Charge Kit will charge the controller even when the console is off. So unlike computers, there's no need to leave the console on to charge the batteries. Simply plug in the controller into the console regardless of whether it is on or off. It is this attention to details that I'm so impressed with.

While the controller only takes a couple of hours to charge, it lasts a darn long time. The box says that it will hold a charge for 30 hours. So far that claim is true. I only need to charge my controller once a week or less. This is very handy as I don't want to have to remember to do it every couple of days or so.

Along those lines, if you do forget to charge it and the battery gets weaker, the ring of light on the controller will start moving in a circle. By hitting the Xbox button on the controller, I can bring up the dash which tells me that the battery is half empty. This is a great feature that ensures I never have an uncharged controller.

•• Conclusion ••
At only $20 or so, this is a no brainer. You will go through $20 in batteries in no time, so it will save you money in the long and short run. Plus the ability to play while it is charging makes sure I'm never without my games.

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