Fixed powerpacks versus replaceable AA's in controllers *spawn

[Phil]

Let's consider for a moment that you, personally, have two different controllers. One has sealed batteries and can be charged via any of the micoUSB cables you have available. One takes 2 AAs. You have two batteries in the controller and two in a charger.

Which controller takes more *effort* to keep charged over the course of a month?

That's really a question of preference. If you ask me, it would take considerably less effort to keep my controller that is chargable via USB cable in a usable state than it would be to find that charger with the two batteries in it. Why?

Because I don't have a single device that still relies on AAs. Ergo; no need for a charger or the batteries. Most of my electronics can be charged over a USB cable - my tablet, my smartphone, my GoPros, my headset(s).

In fact, having 3 controllers (total of 6 if I include the PS3 controllers), I would need far more batteries and chargers to keep up with keeping them up in a usable state, given I have at least 3 USB chargers lying around (and not counting the servers with a USB port that could be used as well). The good thing with charging over USB is - even if I had 4 'active' controllers, it's far more likely I'll find 4 USB cables and 4 ports to charge them than wanting to have a set of 4 pairs of batteries and potentially another 4 pairs as spare and perhaps an extra charger to keep them charged at all times - then, having to worry about if I actually charged them or forgot to - or worse, which batteries belong to the same pair (as they shouldn't really be mixxed).

For amusement sake; what if all your devices (yes, even your smartphone) had rechargable AAs - would you still find it convinient? I'm willing to bet you find it convinient now with the controllers because it's foremost one of the few devices that still requires it.

Fair play if you find batteries more convinient, but IMO, I'm glad they are more or less a thing of the past. Never looked back and never will.

 

[mrcorbo]

I have several different controllers, 360 cabled, 360 Wireless, one with a official battery pack, one without and 4 x PS3 + 2 x PS4 controllers.

Since mini and micro USB are and have been a standard for a long time i have no problem keeping the PS3+PS4 controllers alive. The 360 on the other hand, is a clusterfuck, non standard charge cable for the battery pack (that is dead i think..). And as i mentioned earlier, i had the joy of battery spill in the other wireless controller.. yiiha

The Play and Charge kit sucks. Not going to argue in favor of that.

So.. i would have to buy a recharge kit plus at least 8 AA rechargeable batteries just to keep those 2 x 360 controllers going wireless.

Yes.

Lets add 2 more for each PS3 controller that is another 8

Yes.

(16 if i wanted to keep them wireless in any case)

No. Here's where your thinking starts going wrong. How many controllers do you expect you can run dead in any given day? You only need enough extra batteries to replace those in the ones that have been run dead. No more.

And another 4-8 for the PS4 controllers.

4

So i need a charge station that can handle at least 12-24 batteries at the same time, plus a bunch of batteries and then i just need to keep track on what is charged and what isn't.. yep.

4 extra on the charger would probably be fine, 8 if you want to be safe for an occasion where you were actually ran all four of those PS3 controllers dead. And no, you don't need to worry about what is charged and what isn't. You only need to think about it when they run low.

 

[mrcorbo]

That's really a question of preference. If you ask me, it would take considerably less effort to keep my controller that is chargable via USB cable in a usable state than it would be to find that charger with the two batteries in it. Why?

Because I don't have a single device that still relies on AAs. Ergo; no need for a charger or the batteries. Most of my electronics can be charged over a USB cable - my tablet, my smartphone, my GoPros, my headset(s).

In fact, having 3 controllers (total of 6 if I include the PS3 controllers), I would need far more batteries and chargers to keep up with keeping them up in a usable state, given I have at least 3 USB chargers lying around (and not counting the servers with a USB port that could be used as well). The good thing with charging over USB is - even if I had 4 'active' controllers, it's far more likely I'll find 4 USB cables and 4 ports to charge them than wanting to have a set of 4 pairs of batteries and potentially another 4 pairs as spare and perhaps an extra charger to keep them charged at all times - then, having to worry about if I actually charged them or forgot to - or worse, which batteries belong to the same pair (as they shouldn't really be mixxed).

For amusement sake; what if all your devices (yes, even your smartphone) had rechargable AAs - would you still find it convinient? I'm willing to bet you find it convinient now with the controllers because it's foremost one of the few devices that still requires it.

Fair play if you find batteries more convinient, but IMO, I'm glad they are more or less a thing of the past. Never looked back and never will.

Honestly, as an ideal I'd really like to have it both ways. To have a standard form factor rechargeable battery across all of my devices where I can charge the battery in the device as well as having a dedicated charger with extra batteries. The best of both worlds.

 

[-tkf-]

The Play and Charge kit sucks. Not going to argue in favor of that.

Yes.

Yes.

No. Here's where your thinking starts going wrong. How many controllers do you expect you can run dead in any given day? You only need enough extra batteries to replace those in the ones that have been run dead. No more.

4

4 extra on the charger would probably be fine, 8 if you want to be safe for an occasion where you were actually ran all four of those PS3 controllers dead. And no, you don't need to worry about what is charged and what isn't. You only need to think about it when they run low.

But ideally I would need twice the batteries vs what the controllers use, of course I wouldn't need a perfect overlap, but at least 12+12. to keep 2 pairs of each running..

Anyway, the way my 360 is running and with a xb1 incoming I don't really have a choice do I

 

[Phil]

Honestly, as an ideal I'd really like to have it both ways. To have a standard form factor rechargeable battery across all of my devices where I can charge the battery in the device as well as having a dedicated charger with extra batteries. The best of both worlds.

You do. You just need to think of the cable as the charger and the batteries become redundant. Or better; think of the device itself as the charger.

In your proposed ideal world scenario; you not only have the device, you also have the batteries and the extra charger. On a device with a fixed battery (e.g. iPhone, DS4 controller), all you really need is the device itself and optionally the cable (though you only need a single cable to feed all your devices - well, assuming they're all microUSB and ignoring Apples proprietary connectors).

Technically, my Samsung smartphone has an exchangable battery, which I like over the iPhone's built in one. But honestly, have I ever needed to exchange it? No. So why would I really need it to be exchangable? There might be a benefit in the rare occurance that a battery dies of malfunction, but in reality, that's quite unlikely to happen over the lifespan of the smartphone. At least it never happened to me over various devices over the last couple of years.


And I can't for the life of me imagine wanting to maintain such an charger to be up-to-date with all my batteries... it just feels so 80ties.

Anyway - there's an additional benefit of having a controller with a USB connector;
I've actually taken my controllers to a friends place quite a few times. It's great if you don't have to worry about the state of the charge or if you need batteries to run it. Just take them and plug them in overthere - done deal, no hassle.

 

[function]

Some of the rechargeables I use in my 360 have been in use for about 15 years. They'll far out last a single console in terms of lifetime. My newer batteries net me well in excess of 20+ hours play on a single charge (with rumble on).

Takes seconds to swap and I'm back to full charge. So I never have to play with a cable in.

I have a USB 360 pad for use on the PC and 360. Never use it, because the cable annoys me. Dindn't use to, but that was because I was conditioned for cable play. I'd buy a "play and charge" kit if I still enjoyed playing a game while charging my batteries up with them still inside the controller, but I don't. Because that's rubbish.

I don't want to play with the pad connected to charger any more than I want to talk on my mobile phone with it connected to a charger or use a tablet with it connected to a charger. Sod that.

 

[mrcorbo]

But ideally I would need twice the batteries vs what the controllers use, of course I wouldn't need a perfect overlap, but at least 12+12. to keep 2 pairs of each running.

In my experience, it hasn't been necessary. I have three wireless mics that take 2AA's each and the wireless pro drum kit which takes three for Rock Band, a wireless wheel which takes two more and two wireless controllers with two each on top of miscellaneous electronics around the house that take AAs and I have never not had enough batteries in my 4 unit charger to cover what batteries needed to be replaced at any one time.

Anyway, the way my 360 is running and with a xb1 incoming I don't really have a choice do I

Seems not! My suggestion is to buy a 4 unit charger + batteries bundle to start and if that doesn't already have enough, get enough extra batteries to fully populate the charger and all of the devices that you need to power at the same time. Then you should be good to go.

 

[mrcorbo]

You do. You just need to think of the cable as the charger and the batteries become redundant. Or better; think of the device itself as the charger.

In your proposed ideal world scenario; you not only have the device, you also have the batteries and the extra charger. On a device with a fixed battery (e.g. iPhone, DS4 controller), all you really need is the device itself and optionally the cable (though you only need a single cable to feed all your devices - well, assuming they're all microUSB and ignoring Apples proprietary connectors).

There have been several occasions where I have run my phone battery dead or nearly dead due to not having access to a charger for a significant period of time. It would be nice to have a fully-charged replacement battery available for those situation without having to buy a proprietary one + a charger just for that device.

Technically, my Samsung smartphone has an exchangable battery, which I like over the iPhone's built in one. But honestly, have I ever needed to exchange it? No. So why would I really need it to be exchangable? There might be a benefit in the rare occurance that a battery dies of malfunction, but in reality, that's quite unlikely to happen over the lifespan of the smartphone. At least it never happened to me over various devices over the last couple of years.

It becomes less able to hold a charge. This has happened to me. Twice, in fact. Both times I bought a replacement and the phone's battery life was as good as new again.

And I can't for the life of me imagine wanting to maintain such an charger to be up-to-date with all my batteries... it just feels so 80ties.

You have a vivid imagination.

Anyway - there's an additional benefit of having a controller with a USB connector;
I've actually taken my controllers to a friends place quite a few times. It's great if you don't have to worry about the state of the charge or if you need batteries to run it. Just take them and plug them in overthere - done deal, no hassle.

Chances are if your buddy had controllers that took batteries, he'd have spares he could lend you, if necessary.

 

[Phil]

Chances are if your buddy had controllers that took batteries, he'd have spares he could lend you, if necessary.

Didn't you just establish before how many batteries it would take to keep your controllers running? If I was forced to have spares for my controller - I probably wouldn't have an extra lot of spares if my buddy came over with his controller.

The example I mentioned wasn't outside of reality either; When my friend has a party at his house, I usually take my 4 controllers to his place so that we can play a party game like Bomberman (7 players on the PS3). In this scenario; it would take 14 batteries (not counting spares) to keep them running, and as an example taking your charger, it would require a few of them.

Back to the PS3 example; actually taking my 4 semi charged controllers, it was an easy task to simply plug them in via cable - at least the ones that needed charging without the hassle of charging AA batteries. Sure, it's doable. I would just find it very tedious knowing it could be done so much easier and more convinient.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

i simply don't get it...

I suppose not. You may have earned the dad of the millennium award.

 

[-tkf-]

I suppose not. You may have earned the dad of the millennium award.

haha well its very rare we don't have the needed consoles and controllers ready..

but it's really my tickling that earns that award.. enough ot.

I think I have written and read enough to know that this is not something that is right or wrong. But just for the record, I also used rechargeable batteries for lots of stuff, and it's not something I long for. So at least I tried and tested it in other connections. it's just not something that works with the habits and gear i have..

 

[mrcorbo]

Didn't you just establish before how many batteries it would take to keep your controllers running? If I was forced to have spares for my controller - I probably wouldn't have an extra lot of spares if my buddy came over with his controller.

The example I mentioned wasn't outside of reality either; When my friend has a party at his house, I usually take my 4 controllers to his place so that we can play a party game like Bomberman (7 players on the PS3). In this scenario; it would take 14 batteries (not counting spares) to keep them running, and as an example taking your charger, it would require a few of them.

Back to the PS3 example; actually taking my 4 semi charged controllers, it was an easy task to simply plug them in via cable - at least the ones that needed charging without the hassle of charging AA batteries. Sure, it's doable. I would just find it very tedious knowing it could be done so much easier and more convinient.

You only need enough extra batteries to account for the ones that die within that play session. In practice, they just don't die simultaneously and the charge cycle is a lot shorter than the discharge cycle. So, in practice:

You have one controller die, you swap out two batteries from the charger. You have a second controller die, you swap out the second set of two from the charger. You have the third controller die you swap the dead batteries out for the partially re-charged set that was in the first controller. You have a fourth controller die, you swap out for the partially re-charged set that was in the second controller..and so on. This theoretical scenario is already exceedingly unlikely at four dead controllers in one play session and gets more so the longer it goes. And if you were really worried about it happening a little prior planning and preventative charging would stack the deck in your favor.

 

[DrJay24]

Unless I'm weird, you don't take the batteries out of a 360 controller to preemptively charge it, thus you change the batteries when it dies. With the DS3 controller (and now DS4) I just charge it when not in use (charging stations are great). The net effect is I've never ran a DS3/4 controller to zero, but I have had to swap batteries on my 360 controllers a lot in the middle of play.

I've never owned a play-and-charge kit I always heard about how bad the batteries were, so I use my own wall charger and quality batteries.

Everyone with a PS4 should own this IMO:

 

[joker454]

Unless I'm weird, you don't take the batteries out of a 360 controller to preemptively charge it, thus you change the batteries when it dies.

The light on the 360 controller will blink more and more as the battery gets closer to being dead, typically I'll swap them somewhere in that time period. Sometimes I have forgotten, or I'm too comfortable on the couch and don't want to bother with it and have had the controller die on me, which then forces me to get up off my ass and swap batteries.

Everyone with a PS4 should own this IMO:

Yeah but look back at the Mass Inconvenience (tm) it was to swap discs on 360 games and how barbaric that was deemed to be. If people couldn't handle the rare disc swap aren't they going to cry at the thought of having to dock their controllers on a regular basis? Any anyways once again that's extra cost, compared to just using ubiquitous rechargeable AA batteries that most everyone at least in the USA already has.

 

[Strange]

Let's consider for a moment that you, personally, have two different controllers. One has sealed batteries and can be charged via any of the micoUSB cables you have available. One takes 2 AAs. You have two batteries in the controller and two in a charger.

Which controller takes more *effort* to keep charged over the course of a month?

I actually have that choice, not on my controller, but my mouse.

the microUSB one took me less effort. I just leave it plugged in at all times.

 

[mrcorbo]

I actually have that choice, not on my controller, but my mouse.

the microUSB one took me less effort. I just leave it plugged in at all times.

So you effectively have a wired mouse. Could have saved yourself some money...

 

[AzBat]

I love having replaceable battery packs. I don't use AA's though. I've always bought the Play & Charge Kit. Batteries were never junk for me. They eventually get there after 5+ years of use though. When they did I just bought another rechargeable pack. I tried rechargeable AA's but hated having to use a AA charger. So I bought a Play & Charge Pack for my 2 controllers & went with the Energizer Charging Station as well. It supports official Play & Charge Packs & even Nyko versions too. It even charges my wireless headset.

I rather just set my controllers on those during non-use. They're always charged & ready to go when I need them. If not, I can swap out another pack from one that is charged or hook up the Play & Charge cable. For emergencies I could even use AA's too. Lots of options is awesome. Looks like XB1 improves this by making the cable a standard USB cable & it shuts off the wireless radio when connected. When I finally get the system I'll probably wait on a better charging station. The newer Xbox One Energizer Charging Station & Nyko Charge Base both use proprietary battery packs. The Engergizer battery packs look like they have protruding contacts as well. I would rather wait for somebody that makes a charging station that works with the official Play & Charge packs. So far they have always been the best I've used.

Don't think I would be happy having to take apart a controller to replace a battery. So far all my electronic devices allow for the user to replace it easily. Except for a cheap Chinese Android tablet I bought last summer. I'll be getting rid of it before I have to worry about having to replace it's internal battery though. If I have a choice I want user-replaceable batteries. Just one less thing to have worry about & it helps keep the device in good looking shape if I decide to sell or trade it.

Tommy McClain

 

[DrJay24]

Yeah but look back at the Mass Inconvenience (tm) it was to swap discs on 360 games and how barbaric that was deemed to be. If people couldn't handle the rare disc swap aren't they going to cry at the thought of having to dock their controllers on a regular basis? Any anyways once again that's extra cost, compared to just using ubiquitous rechargeable AA batteries that most everyone at least in the USA already has.

Hyperbole aside, you put the controller down when not in use, now you put it down in a dock. There is no additional work involved. Yes there is cost, but there is cost with rechargeable batteries and a charging unit. Overall cost is about the same and time/work is significantly less than taking batteries out of a controller and putting them into a charger and then back again.

 

[djskribbles]

Like I've said before, you don't even need a dock. Multiple phone chargers are something almost all households have. I have 3 in my house and I keep one right by my PS4.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

That sounds like a best of all worlds option... standard batteries the user can replace at will, either rechargeable or disposable, charging stand for between uses, and a standard cable that allows charging while playing. That's a lot of flexibility and satisfies every single preference in this thread, the only penalty an increase in size... though few it seems complain about 360 or Xb1 ergonomics.