Saitek PP34 Cyborg Rumble Pad for use with PC or Xbox 360 Game Console
by Saitek
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Customers in the UK,
buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SaitekAudio: German (Subtitled); German (Manual)
Platform: Windows XP, Xbox 360
Model: PP34
Color: Violet
Product features:
- 2 Quick Fire Shoulder Triggers
- 2 analog triggers
- 8-way d-pad
- 6 responsive buttons
- Works with Windows XP XP64 Vista or Xbox 360
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet/1.0 Meter)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to Mini-B Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Saitek PP34 Cyborg Rumble Pad for use with PC or Xbox 360 Game Console
Customer Review: Great controller, a few problems
Summary: 5 Stars
Out of the box, this controller feels really smooth. It's not hard and textured like the actual 360 controllers.
It's a really smoothed out controller. It's shape is different from the original 360 controllers because it seems to be less bent in. Which kinda makes it more ideal for big hands.
The buttons, bumpers, and triggers all work well, just as well as the 360 controllers. Though the buttons will sometimes seem really loud, especially when I'm sitting here just pressing them for fun. During a game, it will be less noticeable.
One good thing about this is the D-Pad is much better! They feel like a Microsoft controller but more defined and pushable, you can press the diagonal buttons, and will be my main controller for when playing Street Fighter IV.
The coolest feature of all that everyone is amazed by is literally the cyborg module which allows the user to flip between the xbox layout or the playstation layout of the left hand. I found FPS games should use the original xbox controller. But when playing games such as Geometry Wars or Bomberman Arcade, flipping is better.
The controller is technically an Xbox 360 controller, which happens to come with drivers to make it and only it run on Windows. This means that Playstation 3 will not be able to use this controller as a generic controller. Neither can a Mac unless you edit the tattiebogle drivers.
Here are my downsides to it:
The analog sticks are not the best. They do fine when they're just being used to maneuver. The issue comes when using them as buttons. One of the first difficulties is that you cannot simply push down on the button while pointing in a direction. This was problematic when first playing CoD4 and not being able to run. However, I figured out that the key to using this was to push it down perpendicular to the position of the thumb. This means if you're pointing the stick up and you need to run, you'll need to push it down at an angle towards the down direction. This is because if you hold down on the joystick button and then push it to the maximums of the stick, the button will become "unpressed". So when you are running in CoD4 and need to push down the button, you'll have to pull it back a little bit. It takes a while to get used to.
One minor problem is that the cyborg module could sometimes not be pushed it all the way. Which causes the buttons to become unresponsive. Saitek did add two LED lights to indicate if you're securely in or not, which will let you know if you initially pushed it in far enoguh. Otherwise, the remedy is to just push the module in more and it should work fine. An annoying part of the module sometimes is the ability to rapidly change in game without any issue. However, when the module is removed, it will treat the analog stick as going towards the bottom left. This may bug some people, even though it usually only lasts a second for you to reverse the module and stick it back in tightly.
So overall, it's a great controller if you can handle the oddity of the analog sticks. The feel, the size, and the cyborg module is great enough that it makes the gamepad worth it. The cable is also really long and should not be a problem unless you have an issue with cables.
--EDIT--
After using the software, I've concluded that it is really indeed difficult to use and completely a turn-off. I suggest using software such as XPadder or Pinnacle Game Profiler if you plan on mapping any buttons.
The analog sticks are also grooved in a style similar to the original xbox. With the right analog stick having a smaller groove than the left one, this is of course subjective as some people may like it. It bugged me when playing Geometry Wars as the two analog sticks felt different. So if I could edit the rating, I may put it down to a 4.
Description of Saitek PP34 Cyborg Rumble Pad for use with PC or Xbox 360 Game Console
High-end pad with the ability to change the arrangement of the left analogue stick and d-pad to suit the individual gamer¿s needs. Xbox 360 compatibility completes the product enabling true compatibility with Games for Windows games too. System Requirements: Win XP, XP64, Vista, Xbox 360. Product Benefits and Features include 2 Quick Fire Shoulder Triggers, 2 analogue triggers, 8-way d-pad, 6 responsive buttons, 2 analogue joysticks, Soft touch feel for comfort over long gaming sessions, Fully programmable with SST Programming Software, Unique Cyborg module allows the switching of the left analogue stick and d-pad positions, Compatible with Xbox 360 and Games for Windows games.Digital Cameras and Photo Categories