Saitek P2600 Rumble Pad PC Game Controller

List Price: $24.99 Discount Price: $11.97

Features:

• 4 quick-fire shoulder triggers
• 8-way directional pad
• 2 analog thumb sticks
• FPS gaming button; instant configuration for first person games
• Fully programmable

Customer Reviews:

Not quite as useful as previous models [Posted on 2008-02-13]
I've enjoyed using Saitek gamepads for awhile now due to their useful programmability combined with having a decent number of buttons. This model appears to have two more buttons than the P2500 (the 2500 and other similar models to it only had two shoulder buttons) but it actually has the same number since the two joysticks don't have the click-in-the-joystick-buttons. Mind you, the joysticks click in as if they were buttons, but they don't actually do anything. This makes the gamepad slightly less useful to me as I often set one of the joysticks to the mouse, and the built-in button as the mouse click. Using another button for the mouse click makes selecting things in various games a bit awkward and not as fast.

The odd thing is, that according to their website the P990 and P2600 Wireless which use the same 4-shoulder-button model also apparently have working joystick buttons. As the rumble feature isn't particularly useful, IMO, and Wireless controllers have their own set of problems, I'd suggest tracking down a P990 instead.

This is NOT compatible with Madden 08 [Posted on 2008-03-30]
I wanted to save other user from wasting their money & time that maybe buying this controller to use with Madden 08..It is NOT compatible!

Saitek P2600 Rumble Pad PC Game Controller [Posted on 2008-05-17]
I bought this together with my Half Life 2: Episode pack but unfortunately the key pad on the controller doesn't want to function on this game. So for me this is a lousy PC Game Controller and I'll not recommend this to anybody.

The Gamepad Par Excellence  [Posted on 2008-09-22]
An excellent gamepad all around--my weapon of choice for nearly every game (despite the fact I own several Logitech Dual-Actions).

I find that the controller size is perfect: a bit bigger than the Logitechs, they tend to sit better when I pick up the controller. Both analog sticks are right where your thumbs end up, making it very easy to accurately move them, even when you need to nudge them slight distances with great accuracy. The shoulder triggers are large and well placed-whether you use your pointer and middle fingers or whether you just use the pointer fingers, you'll find that you won't hesitate for a millisecond to find any trigger button. The fact that there are six face buttons is a dream for those arcade-style games that need them (Marvel vs. Capcom, etc).

There are two downsides that every single person will face with this controller, though they shouldn't be nearly enough to discourage you.

The first is the FPS feature activation button--it sits on the top of the controller near the face buttons and did tend to get in the way in the beginning--I never use the feature and hitting it by accident has unwelcome effects on gameplay (sometimes, your buttons won't work until you press the button again). I for one virtually never hit it anymore, but if it were still a problem for me, I wouldn't hesitate to pop out the button with a screwdriver--it's not like you would actually use the button, not ever.

The second is the Directional D-Pad (if you won't really be playing classic/emulated games, this shouldn't be an issue to you). Although it's comfortably shaped, it makes for somewhat buttery gameplay. It's tough to pull off complicated combo moves in fighting games, because your timing will be inevitably thrown off a tiny bit because the D-Pad moves too softly and gel-like. It shouldn't be a problem in more forgiving games like Mortal Kombat (and of course games like Mario will work just fine), but it took me weeks and weeks to get my super moves working every time in Marvel vs. Capcom. I persevered solely because of the six face buttons and I must say it's entirely worth it. As for the "durability" of the D-Pad: I have used the similar P990 (which is similar in every way to this gamepad, except it doesn't have the rumble feature) for years (with a fair amount of abuse) and the D-Pad is as steady as the day it arrived in the mail.

It's a shame that discussing cons takes so much longer than listing the pros, even though the pros outweigh the cons by many orders of magnitude. If you're looking for a great rumble gamepad, BUY THIS CONTROLLER! You won't be sorry. As a note, the Saitek P990 Dual Analog Game Pad will do everything this gamepad does except the rumble--I wholeheartedly recommend that controller as well.

P.S. Don't forget to install the Saitek driver. Even though Windows will automatically detect the gamepad, you still need to download and install the official Saitek driver or else some games won't recognize the controller properly.

good feel, but programming waaaay complicated.. [Posted on 2008-10-09]
It does have a nice feel; but I think if you're expecting a simple user interface with nice pictures to guide you with programming buttons- no way.. This will be like rocket science for most people. It has a very complicated setup. Took 3 hours experimenting before I started to get it to work.

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