Customer Reviews

Saitek P2600 Rumble Pad PC Game Controller

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

I've been using this pad with a variety of games and I'm very impressed with its performance all around. It feels great and the rumble function works well in all of the games I've tried that support it. I have only a couple of minor complaints: the first is that I have to unplug the cable when playing certain games (e.g. Mage Knight Apocalypse) or strange things will happen (the camera goes nuts). This is apparently a bug with a number of Saitek peripherals, though, and not just the P2600. My second complaint has to do with the FPS button. It's placed just so that it is possible to bump it with a thumb in the throes of gaming, and when it is activated all of your controls are switched to FPS mode (i.e. they don't work anymore). This can be an issue of varying concern depending on what game you're playing. Granted, if you are able to run the configuration software you can disable the FPS mode switch and the button will function like an additional button, but as I'm running XP x64 I don't seem to be able to run the config software. Other than that, I love this gamepad a hell of a lot more than any of my console controllers... I'm contemplating plugging it in to my PS2's USB ports to see if it would even work right now.

I would NOT use this for FPS mode, but I grew up on the keyboard/mouse combo (except for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark) so using a controller seems sacreligious.

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.

Pros:
+ 6 face buttons/4 shoulder buttons, makes for almost perfect emulation of any console gamepad, whether for an emulator, or transitioning to a PC version of an Xbox/Playstation favorite
+ Includes rumble support
+ Solid controller, dropped many times by people and still works perfectly
+ Dual analog. Why do they still make gamepads that aren't?
+ Price is great

Cons:
- Official software useless. JoyToKey or another program works much better
- Analog sticks do not double as buttons like Saitek P990 Dual Analog Game Pad
- Rumble rarely works consistently
- Dpad is not to everyone's liking (I found it to be so-so)

Conclusion: This or the Saitek P990 Dual Analog Game Pad are almost certain to meet any gamepad needs you have, it's really a matter of which you want more: rumble or analog sticks that double as buttons?

I owned one of the first models of this controller over ten years ago. I owned the same computer for seven years and never upgraded so I never bought a new controller. I recently found a downloadable version of the couple of games I used to play on that ancient computer. Since I always used that old Saitek to play them I was very excited to see that they were still around and still selling the same type of controller/software. The controller feels the same and the programming works exactly the same! I love it. Very easy to use and works perfectly. If you are not very good at progamming, you want to go straight to gamming, or you want to see how others would set up the controller, you can go to numerous sites and download a pre-exsisting set-up. I downloaded the controls for Doom 3 to use with my old progam (Duke Nukem 3D) and it works just like when I set it up ten years ago. Buy Saitek, you won't be let down!

I would have given this 4.5 stars if that was an option. This is a very nice controller and was plug and play usable. Installed the software just to get the programmability. That's where the rating went down. Programming it is not that intuitive, but after you get the hang of it, it's okay. It seems for the most part any game I wanted to play with it I didn't need to make a profile for it and it just worked. I'd recommend this to anyone who would like to use it out of the box, the programming part of it has a steep learning curve but beyond that it's a great product from Saitek.

This is a great controller and it is high quality. I use it to play Need For Speed games such as Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon.

This and other saitek pads like the p220 and p2500
are fine except the d-pad falls off after a month
of usage. I hear that you can call saitek to get
a replacement but cant confirm and who wants the
hassle of shipping the pad for repair. Avoid unless
you desire paying $20 every month.

After I figured some things out about this gamepad I actually like it. I bought this because of its six face buttons when most have four another model I was comparing to didn't have a start and select button so I bought this one with the impression that the two middle buttons were start and select in fact they are rumble off/on button and analog/digital button. It's the closest I can find with the most buttons for under $40 So I'm going to live with it. I got it to play Nintendo 64 games. Configuring this controller can be easy depending on what you want it to do and it can be difficult I'm not much of an expert and this was my first PC controller I had to do some reading to figure out what an axis and dead zone is but once I figured out how to custom program it using the profile editor I am having a lot of fun with it. If you have a game like Mortal Combat with combinations such as B,D,F,Action Buttons it is possible to program the Gamepad to hit combination keystrokes at programmed time intervals to perform a combination with press of one gamepad button. This is pretty cool once I figured it out and also was little disappointing at first when packaged software wouldn't install on my 64 bit system but it does have a compatible 64 bit driver and software at the Saitek web site.

havent actually used this yet, but the delivery of the product was quick and it was as advertised-new and in the original packing.