By now I am sure you have heard of the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit or “Chatpad” as its also called. There are advertisements for it in the Xbox Live marketplace and on various sites and in stores. First of it costs $29.00. The price point was a main reason I ended up buying it. I went tot he store to get an extra headset for Halo 3 action and realized that the Messenger Kit was only $5 more than the cost of the stock Xbox 360 wired headsets and it included a headset. So after the guy at the store assured me that the headset in the kit worked without the “chatpad” connected to the Xbox 360 controller I said “fuck it” and bought the Messenger Kit. it seemed like a good deal.

Is it a good deal? I think so. It snaps onto the bottom of the controller and fits snugly. The headset that comes with it plug at the bottom of it as does the normal stock headset. I ahve had issues with the inlcuded headset acting up occasionally. Sometimes its not detected and i just oull it out an plug it back in and it works again. Sometimes I have to remove the chatpad and replug it all back in. Its annoying and Im not sure if its just mine that is defective or if its a problem with the way they are all designed and produced. I dont think its a deal breaker though.

The chatpad itself when attached to the controller fits seamlessly, snugly and is contoured to seem like a natural part of the control pad. I actually keep the chatpad attached to the control pad all the time and do not bother taking it off. When attached it does not add any significant weight to the controller. It may though make it a little too bulky for those with small hands though I am not sure. Also I seem to get messages and have to type at random times so having to find and attach it every time I have to type in the Xbox Live interface seems like it would be as annoying as using the on screen keyboard. The keyboard itself has a QWERTY setup which is cool and all the necessary shortcut buttons are there like backspace and its easy to switch to special characters once you get used to it. its also backlit which is good for low light situations. I have not had to change or charge my control pad batteries since I have started using it so I do not think battery drain is an issue either. I started using the Messenger Kit about 3 weeks ago and wanted to use it a bit before giving you my 2 cents.

In all I think its was good purchase for me well worth the 5 extra bucks I spent trying to get an extra headset. If you send alot of typed messages via Xbox Live or are in the market for a new headset I think you may want to give the messenger kit some consideration.