I didn't notice any lag with my wireless F710 controller versus a wired 360 controller. The first article I found on the subject suggests a 4-8 ms additional input lag from the wireless transmission, though I don't see any sources for that. A more interesting article, with actual test explanations and results, suggests that the average console game has input lag of at least 67 ms and often variance of up to 133 ms, so 4-8 ms is almost entirely irrelevant.
That's good to know, you never know when people on the internet are exaggerating about their problems or whether they expect perfection. I'm not sure how relevant the article about consoles is, but if it is relevant, then even 133ms sounds negligible to me. I would hope it is. I suppose the main issue would be comfort and ease then.
Started looking around myself. Looking online I discovered that getting a Bluetooth Dongle would allow me to use my Wii Classic Controller. So been using that...
I am very interested in your experiences with the Wii Classic controller! Any issues at all?
I have a Logitech F710 and I've been pretty disappointed with the signal strength. Anything in between the controller and the receiver (such as my knees, a desk, the computer itself) results in horrible lag, as does being more than three feet from the receiver. A lot of people even say they tape their receiver (it comes with a little USB extension cord) to the controller to make it a wired controller. I actually really like the buttons though.
I've seen some other people saying their F710's were also abominable in terms of signal strength, and some people say it's no problem, but it seems like most people who returned their controllers for another one didn't get any improvement. I feel like compared to a console controller, it's amazing how poor the reception is. You may have also seen some people complaining of dead zone- I have not had that problem and I think that it's just misattributed signal lag.
Agreed on the F710's signal strength. Turns out there's a reason the tiny dongle is provided with a long USB extension cord; you need that thing on your desk if you want to use it. On the other hand, the battery life seems to be really long. Which may be related to the terrible signal strength. 
Not sure about dead zone issues on the F710 controller, though. I just tried it with the Dolphin configuration tool, and it seemed to be detecting even the slightest movement of the analog sticks. That said, the sticks are slightly 'sticky' - you need to apply slightly more force to move them from rest than you'd expect, which might be reported as a dead zone issue. And the sticks have a convex top instead of the concave design of my 360 controller, which makes them feel slightly harder to control (maybe compounding the static friction problem...).
I definitely want to be more than 3 feet away! Thanks for your input on the F710, since it was a controller I was considering. I don't think it would be any good if it has problems with objects being in the way since we have dogs in our house. Sounds like it would be a good controller to have at your desk though.
Huh, wireless controllers for your PC, really? How far are you sitting from your computer? Or are you hooked up on your TV?
If I were to be using controllers, I'd probably sitting anywhere from 1ft to 8ft away depending I've got it connected to the TV or whether it's in my room. I want to use it in both scenarios. Generally, I don't think I'd be more than 4ft away though. I'm not opposed to wired controllers at all, as long as the wire is long enough.
I have an F510. It's the same thing as the F710 except it's corded so you don't have to deal with batteries or any other nonsense (and it's cheaper). One thing that's neat is the switch on the back that allows to you switch between D-input and X-input, which means the controller can act as a generic plug-and-play controller where you can also set custom inputs for various programs, or switch to X-input where the computer will recognize the controller as an Xbox controller with rumble functionality.
I like the controller, it's pretty similar to a dualshock controller except the triggers are pretty bad. Instead of being wide like on a dualshock there's a plastic bit that comes down the controller that the triggers protrude from, and the triggers are pretty narrow. On a dualshock I can easily press the triggers but on the Logitech you kinda have to curve your finger around that little plastic bit in order to get at them, and coupled with the stiffer triggers (driving games where you hold the triggers will tire your finger very easily) is a pretty strange designs decision.
The location of the analog sticks doesn't matter so much to me, I've used both an Xbox and dualshock and I could get used to either position, but if it;'s really a problem there's a controller made by Cyborg I believe that allows you to swap which position the left analog stick and the D-pad are in, but I don't know how well that company can be trusted given my joystick from them is pretty cheaply made.
As for the D-pad itself, it is pretty strange. On a dualshock the d-buttons are very close to the frame and they're almost like buttons, but the design makes pressing diagonally pretty strange. I forget what the Xbox controller is like since I don't have one in front of me, but on the Logitech the D-pad is all one plastic casing kinda raised up from the controller. This normally wouldn't be so bad, except it seems like you have to press pretty far down on the directional before an input is registered. This is very bad if you need to double-tap directional buttons. Diagonals feel good though.
I like the buttons on the controller. I am most familiar with the playstation/dualshock button layout, so it is very handy to have Xbox style buttons I can look down and refer to since most games seem to use those.
Hey, interesting stuff. This is a better review of a controller than I've seen on most reviewing websites!
It's been a few years since I last used a dualshock but I vaguely recall the layout being uncomfortable, I imagine this is probably just one of those things one gets used to though, enough people use dualshocks, so the design can't be that bad. Unfortunately, double-tapping on controllers is something I want to be able to to easily, so I guess I can rule out the F510. Thanks.
I had looked at some Cyborg controllers, but they were obscenely expensive. I'm not paying over £99 for a single controller!
The D-Pad on a 360 controller has the same plastic cover as the F710 (and, I'd assume, the F510). The main difference is, when you press on the F710, you can feel actual buttons under the casing - there's an audible 'click' and the matching tactile feedback. The 360 controller has much less in the way of resistance, so it feels much smoother but is considerably less responsible during gameplay.
...damn, before this thread I'd given very little thought to the differences between controllers. You guys are making me do work for my daily posting quota. 
Hah, last time I looked I was on 0.07 posts per day. I'm sure that number is skyrocketing thanks to this thread. Controllers are serious business!
I've owned a logitech F310 for a few months now and I'm pretty happy with it. It's perfect for platforming games, the D-pad is great. The triggers need to be pushed in a bit further than feels normal and at first it's a bit off putting but once you're used to it is easy enough to compensate for. The main weakness of that controller is its analogue sticks. I can't aim for shit with them. It's fine for 3D action games like Dark Souls or Darksiders 2. It's pretty sub-par for FPS games though. Any game that requires fast precise aiming I've given up on playing them with the controller.
One of the nice features of the F310 is that it has switch that lets you change modes. This allows the controller to be recognized as an Xbox 360 controller making it compatible without any set up for a lot of recent games with controller support.
I can't imagine why you'd play a FPS with a controller rather than a mouse! I tried playing dead island on my friend's X-Box, but I really couldn't get over how slow and imprecise the analogue sticks were compared to a mouse. The F310 sounds like a great controller other than that small matter though.
At the moment, I'm considering getting a F310 and a Wii U Pro or just 2 Wii U Pros. Hopefully Neyvn can impart some of his experiences with the classic controller today, because I think I'll make my decision by the end of this day.
Author
Topic: PC Gaming Controllers (Read 4133 times)