| Product: |
Microsoft Xbox 360 Headset |
| Date: |
24/05/08 (147 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Can mute yourself and other players, single earpiece
Disadvantages: Cheap materials, easily broken, too long a cable
~~PLEASE NOTE~~EDIT~PLEASE NOTE~~
This review was originally written on 24.05.08. It has been noted that this product (and therefore review) may be in the wrong category, as it is a specific item for the Xbox 360. DooYoo have been informed of this, but for the time being this review will have to stay here, in this category.
Many thanks
Editted 26.0508
~~End of Edit~~
The Xbox 360 Wired Headset Communicator is as basic a peice of kit as you'll ever be supplied with from Microsoft. Not to say that's a necessarily BAD thing, but just to let you know, don't expect this to be a wonderful piece of technology or anything.
It comes in a range of colour (spot the intentional grammatical error) of white and grey, sporting a single ear piece held on by an adjustable grey slidding cushion that grips onto the other side of your head for grim death. The advantage here (being a single earpiece) is that the microphone that extends out of it can spin around a 270 degree angle, so you can wear it comfortably on either side of your face, keeping your open ear to whichever side you damn well please. You can control the volume of the sound you receive from the plug, as well as being able to mute your own mic, keeping real-life conversation private from the general public. The rig from your head has a very long cable that plugs into the bottom of your controller, from which it draws it's power - a potential issue for wireless controllers, but thems the rocks.
The microphone itself is another bog-standard unit. Just what you'd expect from a mic, with a cheap sponge cover to reduce spittle and blowing interference, which - being cheap - it does a rather poor job of. The sound quality is rather good, clear enough at least, for you to understand what's being said. Assuming of course the person you're talking to isn't some neanderthal with a grudge against articulation and modern speech.
I got mine free with my xbox 360 Premium pack, and a good thing too!! My package, which came "Xbox Live Ready" from GameStation, would have very irritating to own if I had not been able to return the insults you generally recieve from any online gaming community. Thanks to my little microphone, I can. And often to great effect.
However, the reason this little wotsit isn't going to be winning any awards is because of its rather shoddy production value. The reason that I was inspired to write this review, for example, has come from a desire to keep the reading public happy with their goods, and you deserve to be warned of just how easily they can be broken. Hence a short story for you. Enjoy.
Being a student, I travel between home and university on a regular basis, and I need something to keep me entertained at home at 2am, when my family have retired. So I take my xbox and the accompanying gadgets so I can play on Live at home. This usually requires me putting it all in my holdall. Now, in their defence, they don't look or feel like they could survive much more than a bit of a windy spring day in Cardiff, but they're generally kept for indoor use only. But you'd assume that, having been carefully folded in a manageable shape, cushioned gently by wrapping them with focus and attention in a wooly jumper, finally nesting it with love and care at the very top of my bag, it would be a fairly safe bet that it would see the ride home through.
As you've probably guessed, it wasn't.
Anecdotes aside, as advanced as technology goes it isn't great. When playing with others on the internet, you often feel like you're listening to someone's yoga breathing exercises, usually accompanied by whatever the person in the background thinks of EastEnders. While it depends on the specific game you're playing which controls how your microphone is activated (a large team game in Halo 3 for example, requires you to push down on your D-pad to talk. The microphone will remain on until you shut up. On Shadowrun, your mic will remain active at all times), you can sometimes find yourself talking to... well, yourself, as there is no indication on the unit (though there is often a symbol on the screen of the game) that your expertly crafted prose are reaching the collective masses.
The wire itself is a bit of a tricky thing for me to comment on, as I both love it and hate it. I have a natural distaste for needlessly wireless technology - the controller for example, often runs out of batteries. The only reason I own it is because it was cheaper to buy than a wired one at the time - so I often opt for wired. In this case though, the frustrating length (well over a metre) often tangles around things (usually my knee or elbow) and yanks out of the controller mid-sentence. Having said that, the wireless equivalent would be running out of batteries, more than likely during your Mona Lisa of retorts to some uptight self-righteous little... ugh, never mind. So I guess in that respect, it's up to you.
But all in all, you get what you pay for. Actually, knowing Microsoft, it would actually be much better put "You get what we can get away with charging you for". A basic kit, easily broken, but free. Assuming it wasn't just hidden in the price of the Xbox.
Summary: Hey, its free. Basic, but free.
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