Xbox Series X | S

[T Pot]

18 hours ago, Kryptonian said:

I ordered a Series X from Currys this morning and it was set to arrive next Thursday. Just had an email now saying it will be here by the 23rd at the latest, that makes me wonder if they had them in stock or not?

 

A minor annoyance is that it wouldn’t let me log in this morning so I checked out as a guest. The receipt etc came to the same email address as my account but for my sanity I’d like it under my account.

 

I wonder if they’ll end up cancelling it altogether though?

i got those, but then I got a text from dpd saying it’s gonna be delivered today.

[Cosmic_Guru]

A reminder to new owners that you can customise the UI and rid yourself of the complete sections which are of no interest e.g community,entertainment, and (unlikely but possible) gamepass.  Every time there is a software upgrade they pop back up again, but can be removed.

 

 

[deerokus]

Is it my imagination or has auto hdr got better recently? It looks really fantastic on something like wreckfest. 

[Kryptonian]

1 hour ago, Mr Tony said:

i got those, but then I got a text from dpd saying it’s gonna be delivered today.

 

Nothing so far here but will see what happens in the week then!

 

I need some time to switch my routers over from the old sky one to the new sky one. Can’t be arsed with all the firewall shit but my connections can be troublesome when it isn’t done

[T Pot]

1 hour ago, Kryptonian said:

 

Nothing so far here but will see what happens in the week then!

 

I need some time to switch my routers over from the old sky one to the new sky one. Can’t be arsed with all the firewall shit but my connections can be troublesome when it isn’t done

yep just arrived now. To be fair I managed to put the order in within 60 seconds of the telegram notification going out.

[Garwoofoo]

1 hour ago, deerokus said:

Is it my imagination or has auto hdr got better recently? It looks really fantastic on something like wreckfest. 

 

I think it's got a lot better. I found it had a tendency at launch to make everything far too bright, but just lately I've found it's improved the picture quality of pretty much everything I've tried it on - even old 360 games like XCOM. It still struggles a bit with loading screens for some reason, but in general I'm really liking the feature now.

[Simmy]

4 hours ago, bear said:

 

 

So support for playing Stadia through your Xbox is coming in a roundabout way. Unless they specifically disable that for the console version of Edge. 

Any idea how to get to your alpha skip ahead?

 

I've been on beta for a few years doing the activities and what not but never got offered alpha ring.

[jonnyalpha]

It's arrived, I got it all plugged in and connected and then have to go out. Time to get it set up later.

[womblingfree]

Just to echo everyone else, but it really is one of the best thought out and designed consoles ever. A natural continuation of the One X really, but now with the power of a fully operational death-star.

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

Had a good few hours play with the Series S this afternoon and that's a lovely bit of kit too. It's so dinky and cute! The fake HDR makes older BC games like the original Forza Horizon and RDR look absolutely sensational and the thing is not even quiet, it's completely and almost eerily silent.

[ulala]

 Microsoft have been killing it on hardware for years 
 

the xsx is tremendous 

[disperse and recoagulate]

Have I immediately misplaced it or does the Series X not coming with a USB C cable (for charging the controller)?

[MattKB]

I think it does...

 

Anyone use the app for remote play? I find it works really well (iOS) but it connects, disconnects and reconnects itself about 2/3 times before being stable. I assume it's testing bandwidth or something. 

[TehStu]

6 minutes ago, disperse and recoagulate said:

Have I immediately misplaced it or does the Series X not coming with a USB C cable (for charging the controller)?

It does not because the controller doesn't have rechargeable batteries supplied (you get Duracell, probably). You'll want the new play and charge kit.

 

I'm just using rechargeable AAs I had lying around.

[disperse and recoagulate]

14 minutes ago, TehStu said:

It does not because the controller doesn't have rechargeable batteries supplied (you get Duracell, probably). You'll want the new play and charge kit.

 

I'm just using rechargeable AAs I had lying around.

Yeah I use recharge batteries for everything. I’ll just share my daughters iPad charger for now. Glad I’m not going crazy.

[TehStu]

7 minutes ago, disperse and recoagulate said:

Yeah I use recharge batteries for everything. I’ll just share my daughters iPad charger for now. Glad I’m not going crazy.

I'd make sure the pad can charge batteries other than the play and charge official one. I've not heard of anyone trying to charge AAs in there before.

[disperse and recoagulate]

Man, the d-pad is loud.

[CarloOos]

Love the clacky d-pad, it’s like a Neo Geo.

[deerokus]

The whole pad is loud at times I think.

 

The dpad is one of the best I've used in ages, Platformers are great with it.

 

As for charging, I bought a wee charging dock on amazon that comes with two rechargeable batteries. Supports both series and one pads (they're not identical shapes). Works perfectly for me.

[MattyP]

45 minutes ago, TehStu said:

I'd make sure the pad can charge batteries other than the play and charge official one. I've not heard of anyone trying to charge AAs in there before.

You can only charge official play and charge battery packs in the controller with a USB-C cable. You have to charge other batteries in a separate charger.

 

Have two controllers one with official play and charge kit and one using AA rechargables. Play and charge kit is nice and convenient and it lasts ages on a single charge. They are great quality had mine for years. Worth the money I paid for it. Rechargeables work as well though just less convenient although easy to have a few charged and ready to swap over.

[Transient Curse]

My elite pad's USB socket is a bit fickle after I dropped it on that side down while it was charging. At some point it'll fail and I'll have to move over to AA batteries/one of those charging stands. 

 

I am going to run that controller into the ground before I replace it. I absolutely do not want to go back to a pad that doesn't have paddles now, but I also don't want to buy a new one (or rather, don't want to spend the money to buy a new one).  I heartily recommend not buying an Elite pad, if only because it will lock you into paying a premium for controllers from that point on, it's too good

[MattyP]

6 minutes ago, Wahwah* said:

My elite pad's USB socket is a bit fickle after I dropped it on that side down while it was charging. At some point it'll fail and I'll have to move over to AA batteries/one of those charging stands. 

 

I am going to run that controller into the ground before I replace it. I absolutely do not want to go back to a pad that doesn't have paddles now, but I also don't want to buy a new one (or rather, don't want to spend the money to buy a new one).  I heartily recommend not buying an Elite pad, if only because it will lock you into paying a premium for controllers from that point on, it's too good

Always liked the idea of getting an Elite controller for the paddles etc. However the parts are the same inside as a regular pad I thought they might be upgraded a bit for example the analogue sticks to use optical tech rather than the old school (and cheap) carbon track based potentiometers. 

 

It's a shame I think MS missed a trick with this. Especially at the price the Elite is selling for. Happily pay it but my expectations on build quality go up considerably especially at what is it these days £150? That's around 3 regular pads! 

[Stanley]

I think the regulars pads are excellent anyway, like you say I’d rather buy more of those, in funky colours. 
 

With regards to batteries I bought a double pack kit that’s basically just 2 sets of double AA’s and a charger, they’re £19.99 so a fair bit cheaper than the official play n charge, and they are 2200 mAh too so will last a while. 
 

This:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08LK1S172/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_EQ2Q1EKXM7P0ER8CFCT6

 

 

[Garwoofoo]

The Elite 2 is excellent and it’s hard to go back to a pad without paddles, even if you only use them to replace the L3/R3 “stick clicks”. 
 

I do think the new Series pad is possibly even slightly more comfortable in use, though. It really is a knockout piece of design. An Elite 3 based off this design should be spectacular. 

[Kryptonian]

I have the paddles set for left and right on the dpad as I used them for grenade switching on Halo and have just left them be

[Mr. Gerbik]

27 minutes ago, Garwoofoo said:

. 
 

I do think the new Series pad is possibly even slightly more comfortable in use, though. It really is a knockout piece of design. 

This is why I prefer my Series controller over my Elite controller. Superior comfort and feel. My elite is now my backup (p2) controller.

 

Edit: the Series dpad is also a lot better. Probably my favorite of all the dpads this gen (Nintendo uncharacteristically fumbled badly this time around, the dpad on their Switch pro controller is arse)

[ulala]

11 hours ago, CarloOos said:

Love the clacky d-pad, it’s like a Neo Geo.

 

It may sound like it, but the Neo geo pads are micro switched.

 

the new Xbox pad uses those awful metal flip things- they will definitely fail! 

[Transient Curse]

1 hour ago, MattyP said:

Always liked the idea of getting an Elite controller for the paddles etc. However the parts are the same inside as a regular pad I thought they might be upgraded a bit for example the analogue sticks to use optical tech rather than the old school (and cheap) carbon track based potentiometers. 

 

It's a shame I think MS missed a trick with this. Especially at the price the Elite is selling for. Happily pay it but my expectations on build quality go up considerably especially at what is it these days £150? That's around 3 regular pads! 

Personally, I've never replaced a pad because it had become worn out, I always wonder what people do to them that's so different to me, so it's ironic that the usb socket is problematic on the one that cost the most. 

 

I think putting aside the internals, the paddles ARE worth the extra. Not as a value proposition, it almost certainly can't cost so much more to make an elite pad, but in terms of usability it's a dramatic improvement for me.  I have a couple of profiles on mine which are essentially Halo and everything else (I give over one paddle to cycle grenades as @Kryptoniandescribes) and always have stick click for sprint on one of the paddles too, like @Garwoofoo.

 

In general,  paddles are a bit like having melee set to right stick click instead of B. You just do better because your thumbs are so rarely off the sticks, but if you're a great player, perhaps you never miss a melee anyway.

 

I'm also now used to having left and right sticks at different heights. I have a taller right stick so I can kid myself that I have more control over aiming.  

 

Despite all these settings and so on I'm not the greatest player, and ultimately, I just like how it feels and though it's expensive, I would definitely buy another if / when this one dies.

 

I might have treated myself to an Elite 2 when the Series X arrived but I didn't want to buy a controller with an integrated battery. Another good reason to avoid that is if the USB port on this controller completely fails,  I'll still be able to use batteries or a 3rd party pack to charge it. Or even put the play and charge in another controller and laboriously switch it in and out.

 

Hopefully the Elite3 comes with a replaceable battery and hardware that is robust enough for all, then everyone can feel confident about getting one. 

[ulala]

I’d be interested in a v3

[Stanley]

Have they mentioned anything about doing design lab for the new pads? I really still fancy that red one though.