Mines seems to go to minimum power after about 3-4 hours after a full charge, I'm thinking I might need to get another battery and play and charge kit.

Or is this normal?

Battery Packs (or any device that require a Battery, like Laptops and Phones) eventually deminish with subsequent charges.

I had some Battery Packs for my Xbox 360 wireless but now I use a wired controller.

i just put rechargable batteries in. i got a good set of 2900mAh duracells and they last for weeks.

I just use rechargeable batteries. They seem to last a fair while and I always have the previous recharged set on standby for when they die.

@zyn: Thing is, mines isn't even that old. Even when I first got it, I noticed it couldn't hold a charge for very long.

@ElNeebre said:

@zyn: Thing is, mines isn't even that old. Even when I first got it, I noticed it couldn't hold a charge for very long.

maybe it was faulty.

@ElNeebre said:

@zyn: Thing is, mines isn't even that old. Even when I first got it, I noticed it couldn't hold a charge for very long.

I've gone through three of the things. First was fine for a good few years, second and third seemed to barely last a few hours and now need to be permanently connected. I'm done spending money on them.

Either use rechargeable batteries or get a wired controller.

I don't charge mine very often, it's fairly new though, about 6-10months old. My PS3 controllers are pretty good at keeping a charge too, played the heck out of Dark Souls for days and days and only had to charge it a few times throughout.

Rechargeable Xbox batteries? The kind that comes with the Play-and-Charge kit? Mine (3 of them) lost the capacity to hold a charge for more than 30 minutes in less than half a year. Terrible.

Comparable, my PS3 dualshock (bought when PS3 dualshocks were released) still holds a significant charge (atleast 5+ hours, I'd guess - though... don't keep track of when I do charge very well).

As a result, I'm using standard batteries in my xbox controllers now, and that seems to work really well. If I used my xbox more, I'd probably get some rechargeable ones. Not going back to the play-and-charge battery packs though.

I've had two Play-n-charge packs for a little over 2 years and I switch em out about once every two weeks or so. And I play almost daily.

@Bell_End said:

i just put rechargable batteries in. i got a good set of 2900mAh duracells and they last for weeks.

@WinterSnowblind said:

@ElNeebre said:

@zyn: Thing is, mines isn't even that old. Even when I first got it, I noticed it couldn't hold a charge for very long.

I've gone through three of the things. First was fine for a good few years, second and third seemed to barely last a few hours and now need to be permanently connected. I'm done spending money on them.

Either use rechargeable batteries or get a wired controller.

This is my story. I've bought three of them. The first one, right after Christmas of '07, actually worked quite well for a while. Then my Xbox red-ringed in mid 2008 and it got sent off, the controller sat there for a week, and when the Xbox came back the battery pack only lasted for an hour or so. And every subsequent one that I've bought - for different controllers even - didn't last for very long.

So I just stopped buying them and now I only use either batteries or I plug the charger into them, or I use my wired controller.

I am on the rechargeable bandwagon as well. IMO, that is much better than they charge and play style kit.

I've had mine for roughly four years and it still holds about an 8 hour charge.

I got some rechargeable AA batteries as well, those enloop ones that are supposed to keep their charge for ages and etc etc. Had them for a while now and that seems to be holding true so far.

Forever, I use the magic of wires to connect my controller.

I'm lucky to get 1-1.5 hours on a full charge with my current battery packs. They're about about 1.5 years old.

I use the Eneloop re-chargable batteries I saw on Tested.com once, best decision I ever made regarding batteries. After writing that, I realized you're talking about the rechargeable packs and not how long your batteries last on your controller :P

Get Eneloop!

got tired of it going out, use it wired now.

@ElNeebre: I've only had one Xbox charge and play kit and the battery life sucked.

I use Duracell rechargeable batteries for everything now. They (Duracell) cost around 3x more than the regular batteries initially, but mine have lasted over 5 years now.

I wont use wired controllers anymore, because my son once static shocked my Xbox playing Guitar Hero 2. Killed the guitar and almost gave me a heart attack when the console reset.

My play and charge is completely fucked. I plug in for charge, sits on red for a few seconds, goes green. Disconnect, goes empty.

Not only that, my power button needs to be pressed 2-3 times before it turns off the system properly.

I had two of the MS rechargeable packs and would use one while the other charged. The first one I got started to get shorter and shorter life and eventually wouldn't charge at all. Back then, I played for at least a couple hours every day so I got a ton of life out of it. The second one is still going strong and it can hold a charge for at least a couple weeks with normal playing.

I've been using my battery pack for years, and I only recently found out that its power capacity has indeed become less. But since that's to be expected after so many years, I'm okay with it. It sounds like yours had a problem coming out of the factory. Getting a recharge cable might work: it allows you to play while the pack's recharging.

I have mine constantly plugged into play and charge, so I wouldn't know. Probably not very long at this point.

@JoyfullOFrockets: The system is supposed to do that. If you leave it for a few seconds it will eventually turn itself off.

I use energizer rechargable batteries & usually get between 30-35 hours per charge around 200 times until they need replaced.

I bought a wired controller. Works on my PC and never runs out. Why there's such a fuss about wireless is beyond me, it's not like you're going to be miles away from the console.

The play and charge kits are terrible. Rechargable AAs all the way.

I just got a new one and it's unreal. It was already charged out the box so I started using it and I just realized it's been 6 days in which I've been off so been playing all day and it's still showing all but one bar. Crazy. Can't believe I spent a month rinsing through so many AA batteries which would last about 4 hours and cost me a stupid amount. Play and charge kit was £7 WELL spent

Get Eneloops.

@substance_d said:

I can vouch that these are a good brand of rechargeables in general. Haven't used them yet for 360 controllers.

I went through like 2-3 battery packs with my 360's back in the day. Then I just started doing wired. I don't really play that far away from the TV, and no kids to rip the cord out. The official battery packs always seemed like they would go super quick, like within 6-12 months (and I was really only playing for like 4 hours a week max at my most). That was when Halo 3, Rockband and ect were out and the 360 was in it's hayday.