I was looking to grab a second controller for my computer, as I had just ordered my dream laptop. I'm a pretty big fan of Logitech's gamepads, so I looked into that before anything else.
I have a Dual Action from them at the moment, and I really enjoy it, the only problem being that the analogs are surrounded by a square instead of a circular shape, making going completely straight take a bit more effort. I saw the F310, and noticed it was essentially the same, with circular surroundings for the analogs. So, I decided to take it for a spin.
I received the product, and ripped open the box, and after noticing the switch on the back (I'd forgotten about 'game' modes while waiting on the product to ship), I read through the directions. I apparently, it seems to be that 'Xinput' mode is useless on XP. In fact, the controller is essentially not recognized in Xinput mode at all. Took me about an hour to actually realize that was the problem, and thought it was just a faulty driver issue.
After that however, I tried out a few games I've got on my computer, seeing as I'm waiting on the laptop, and: It works great.
It's extremely responsive aside from 2 buttons. I've had no issues doing combos or whatnot in any of the fighting games I regularly play. My only gripe is that the L2/R2 Buttons are actually triggers. Well, not that they are triggers, but rather, triggers that require a bit more effort to push. Other than that, it's a great product, with a good, simple design, a nice, responsive d-pad and face buttons, but a little bit more info should be put into that instruction manual about Xinput/Direct Input Modes.
Overall, a great buy, and I really suggest reading this before purchasing just so you aren't wasting time trying to get it to work. Logitech Gamepad F310 with Customizable Buttons
Since I had two Best Buy gift cards that I needed to use, I naturally decided to buy my controller at Best Buy. I actually wanted a Logitech F510. But here's a fun fact: the only two PC gamepads Best Buy has available are this one and the XBox 360 controller, both at the store and on their website (which, by the way, has a terrible search engine)! So, I decided to just deal with the lack of rumble a rumble feature and buy this one. After all, I had to get rid of those damn gift cards!
The controller is essentially a Logitech Dual Action controller (the one shown on Logitech's website, not this piece of crap), but with the main difference being the possibility of switching to XInput, i.e. be used as an XBox 360 controller, in addition to DirectInput. This also means that the second set of shoulder buttons have been changed to analog triggers and an extra "Logitech" button is added to the center, which acts as the button in the center of the XBox controller.
Let's start from the ground up. First of all, the "floating" D-pad is fantastic, and that alone makes the controller great. It might take some time to get used to, and it's harder to quickly press the exact opposite direction than on a "normal" D-pad, but it is great because it tends to "click" slightly, making it almost impossible to accidentally press a diagonal, something which I always found to be annoying. If you were to take the controller apart (I have done so with my broken Dual Action, which has the same D-pad), you would see that it is essentially just a traditional D-pad which is raised and separated from the switches with plastic tubes, which I gotta say is an ingenious design.
The buttons are also perfect, making an obvious, but not distracting "click" when pressed. I am not kidding when I say they put old Nintendo controllers breaking down from years of use to shame.
The one gripe I have with the buttons is the shoulder triggers, which are quite stiff, enough so that they are distracting and uncomfortable. This may seem like a minor thing, but it's not; it's impractical to hold the button for more than 20 seconds, which is a huge problem for racing games where you need to hold the button constantly. If analog triggers are important to you, do not get this controller. Get an XBox 360 controller instead.
And lastly there's the control sticks. Unlike the Dual Action, this controller has circular moldings surrounding the sticks, thank god, because that square shape was horrendous. The sticks themselves work perfectly, easily putting the DualShok 3's stick to shame. There is very little natural deadzone present, and even after extensive use they only require a small deadzone (about 2-3%, which is small enough that it is often ignored anyway). The buttons beneath the sticks work perfectly as well.
Logitech's "gaming software" is completely useless. It basically allows you to make a button press emulate either another button press or a key press. At least, that's the theory. In reality, it is difficult to use and I have found that it never works. Besides this, it seems to have absolutely no support for emulating mouse movement or buttons. I suggest skipping out on Logitech's software and going with JoyToKey (or Joy2Key if you're on Linux), which is easy to use and actually works, and very well at that.
Here's a breakdown:
Pros:
+ Excellent quality buttons, d-pad, and analog sticks.
+ Familiar Playstation-like button layout.
+ Can behave like an XBox 360 controller.
+ X-Input/DirectInput switch allows better compatibility with games and joystick drivers.
+ The MODE button, which flip-flops the d-pad and left analog stick, can help with games that have no d-pad support.
Cons:
- Slightly odd shape which almost makes your fingers feel caged.
- Analog triggers are incredibly stiff, rendering them nearly useless.
- It's corded, so if you don't like cords, this is not for you. :)
Overall, while the Dualshock 3 is better than this, and the XBox 360 controller may be the best for 3D games that don't need a d-pad, this controller is perfect for retro-gaming (16-bit era and prior) due to its excellent D-pad and quality buttons. Its nearly-perfect analog sticks also make this controller great for many 3D games; in particular, any N64 game you can name, and probably a good chunk of Gamecube games as well (Shadow the Hedgehog comes to mind). I recommend this controller if you're a classic gamer and don't have a Dualshock 3 or Wii Classic Controller (or don't want to take the time to connect them to your PC), as it is fairly inexpensive. As for its sister controllers, the F510 and F710, no. You're much better off with an XBox 360 controller, since any game that would benefit from the rumble feature probably doesn't extensively use the d-pad anyway. - Usb Controller - Controller - Logitech - Pc Gamepad'
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