Xbox 360 wireless controller with PC?

Scam · 5 Sep 2022 at 12:57

Is it possible to use one of these wireless controllers on a PC without having to buy the dongle/receiver thingy? Seems daft to have to pay £25 odd for one :confused:

Plugging it in via the charge and play wire does nothing. I'm on Win10.

Thanks!

ToOo · 5 Sep 2022 at 13:06

Xbox one s series controllers and newer have Bluetooth so I've never needed a dongle.

Edit for clarification: Original Xbox 360/one controllers do not have Bluetooth, only Xbox one s and newer.

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cheesyboy · 5 Sep 2022 at 13:11

360 controllers need the dongle. I got mine for £6 on eBay, but that was a decade ago: they seem more expensive now.

Emlyn_Dewar · 5 Sep 2022 at 16:44

The cheap dongles can be a bit flaky too. My first one lasted years, but I went through 2 in the last year before just buying another 8bitdo controller.
All of mine needed some modifications to the driver ini to get it to install too.

Decided to just retire the 360 controllers to the cupboard.

Scam · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:02

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Decided to just retire the 360 controllers to the cupboard.

Oh dear. Maybe this thread needs to be renamed "what cheap controller for PC" ? :confused:

Looks to be a minefield out there.

Wired is fine imo.. Wouldn't a wired Xbox360 controller work ok? Help pages seem to suggest so.

mrk · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:06

The cheap 360 wireless adapters will have driver quirks, if they even work at all on Windows 10+ now.

Just get a new controller.

Scam · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:08

mrk said:
The cheap 360 wireless adapters will have driver quirks, if they even work at all on Windows 10+ now.

Yeah I dont think I want to go that route. For the price I'd rather get a cheap new controller (which one?!).

But, the old wired Xbox360 controllers sound like they work ok? https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/help...accessories/xbox-controller-for-windows-setup

mrk · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:09

Wired works out of the box, if you can get a wire then just use that.

Scam · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:15

mrk said:
Wired works out of the box, if you can get a wire then just use that.

Finding an official controller seems to be the hard part. Hmn.

cheesyboy · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:19

mrk said:
The cheap 360 wireless adapters will have driver quirks, if they even work at all on Windows 10+ now.

Just get a new controller.

Mine's easy on Win10, as long as you remember to just manually assign Window's built in wireless Xbox adaptor driver, rather than faff about with installing from various disks or downloads.

Kainz · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:24

cheesyboy said:
360 controllers need the dongle. I got mine for £6 on eBay, but that was a decade ago: they seem more expensive now.

Yerp. I still use my launchday 360 wireless controller on my PC, along a dodge knock off dongle after my MS one failed a few years back.

I'd recommend one of the newer Xblocks controllers that have built in BT.

BUDFORCE · 5 Sep 2022 at 17:39

I use a wired Xbox controller.

It's very old still works fine, I think I got it from play.com before they were taken over so that's at least 10 years.

demonix · 5 Sep 2022 at 18:55

Scam said:
Yeah I dont think I want to go that route. For the price I'd rather get a cheap new controller (which one?!).

But, the old wired Xbox360 controllers sound like they work ok? https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/help...accessories/xbox-controller-for-windows-setup

The xbox controller for windows is a wired controller and not a wireless controller, so a wireless controller will require the dongle to work as all the cables from play and charge kits only provide power.

ShiWarrior · 5 Sep 2022 at 22:02

ive got an xbox one wireless
i did buy the official MS dongle as i didn't have BT or wireless on my PC

now that ive upgraded my PC, my new motherboard has wifi 6 and BT etc and i think it will connect to the BT ok, otherwise yes you should get the official one

Gilbert89 · 6 Sep 2022 at 21:53

Scam said:
Is it possible to use one of these wireless controllers on a PC without having to buy the dongle/receiver thingy? Seems daft to have to pay £25 odd for one

Plugging it in via the charge and play wire does nothing. I'm on Win10.

Thanks!

I have one that hasn’t been used in years… Official Xbox One Adaptor/Dongle thingy.

Happy to find it out tomorrow and post it?

Edit: Just read it’s not comparable with 360 Controllers, only Xbox One :confused:

rumple9 · 6 Sep 2022 at 22:14

why would anyone want to use a wireless controller on PC?. If its for couch playing use a wireless 70% keyboard and mouse

Ice Rich · 7 Sep 2022 at 09:22

rumple9 said:
why would anyone want to use a wireless controller on PC?. If its for couch playing use a wireless 70% keyboard and mouse

As a life long fan of Keyboard + Mouse I would have agreed with you up until a few months back. I bought one of those 8bitdo bluetooth controllers (mainly with emulation in mind) but have found myself using it with games like Elden Ring and it works really well. No noticeable input lag and I like that I don't have another cable on desk, I can just pick it up and go. Also the battery on these things lasts an absolute age. I'll always chose Keyboard + Mouse for FPS but there is a place for controllers on PC now I think.

ShiWarrior · 7 Sep 2022 at 09:30

rumple9 said:
why would anyone want to use a wireless controller on PC?. If its for couch playing use a wireless 70% keyboard and mouse

i hate the wires in my way all the time !!

Spacedeck · 7 Sep 2022 at 09:47

rumple9 said:
why would anyone want to use a wireless controller on PC?. If its for couch playing use a wireless 70% keyboard and mouse

Highly depends on the game you're playing. You wouldn't play racing games with a mouse and keyboard.

bigmike20vt · 7 Sep 2022 at 09:47

rumple9 said:
why would anyone want to use a wireless controller on PC?. If its for couch playing use a wireless 70% keyboard and mouse

i love my xbox pads on my pc...... KB/M may be more effective in some games but for me they are less enjoyable if i am not playing competetively (and i rarely play competetively). Also for platformers and other games KB/M is objectively pants (in my subjective opinion

)

my old xbox 360 pads work ok using my official MS dongle.
I have 2 xbox 1 pads, one old one without blue tooth and one new one with it, but i have the official MS dongle for those as well and it works perfectly. (the non blue tooth controller and dongle came with my oculus rift)