Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Plantronics GAMECOM 777 Headset Review

 An hour ago I was sitting at my computer pondering about what to write about next, when I hear a large crack! It's the sort of crack that makes geeks cringe, the sound of hard plastic being snapped, the sound your Game Boy makes when it gets run over or the sound your game controller makes when you whip it against the wall in a blind fury. It didn't take long to realized it was my 7 month old headset, as I type I'm still trying to get the super glue off of my finger tips. Now before this review turns into a hate story I intend on going over the positives first, because there are a few.

  I want to start out this review with an admission of a novice, I know my way around headsets but I am not an "audiophile". Headphone reviews can be tricky, because not everyone has the same sense of hearing and although I think mine is superior, I am sure that you think the same of yours. For this reason I am going to focus more on the features than getting gritty with pitches and bass.

 This is what I expected from the GAMECOM Headset from Plantronics, I expected it to last more than 1 year, have decent surround sound, be comfortable and have a quality mic. That's not to much to ask for a $60.00 headset and it so far has met 3 out of 4 of my expectations.

 The headset, though tight at first, is reasonably comfortable. I can go into 8 hour gaming sessions without much discomfort to my head, the sound variances on the other hand can make your ears ache a little. Now that I think about it, most of the features on this headset follow the same outline of providing a decent experience but having little nagging issues to bring it all down. The in-line volume control in the form of a circular adjuster provides quick and accurate adjustments but causes static when moved. The mic has a fold away feature which has been designed well, enabling it to disappear into the head support, but the input quality is average at best. The "Dolby Headphone Technology" selling point does a decent job of providing surround sound when it works, but can be extremely buggy. Each perk seems to have an evil twin dashing this Sets hopes of performing with the big boys.
 
 When I purchased the GAMECOM 777 I had read all of the user reviews and knew most of the issues before I went in, even the possibility of early plastic fatigue, but I though that I was more gentle than the average bear. As an example you should see my original Game Boy screen, it looks as clean and unscratched as the day I took it out of the box! Anyways, my point of being gentle with this headset in the hopes of prolonging its life was simply misguided optimism. The design is flawed where the head adjustment and phone arm meet and there is not much you can do to help this headset along. I'm just hoping the super glue holds until I scratch up enough cash to upgrade.

 To sum it up, if you can't afford Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones or need a mic that the Ear Force HPA2 provides then the GAMECOM headset will give a decent experience for a sub $100.00 price point.

14 comments:

  1. if you find a good deal post it ;)

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  2. I like this... btw, Beating Inertia has a new Q&A post!

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  3. bummer.. they should have lasted longer. I watch the newegg sales and just buy several cheap pairs.

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  4. nice blog dude!!! check out my blog :)

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  5. I'll just stick with cheapy headsets with surround sound speakers. FTW

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  6. I enjoyed your point of view in this post

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  7. I like your post... GTL and blogging FTW!

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  8. Keep up the good work! If you like bubbles, check out my other blog, Enhanced by MS Paint!

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  9. Nice info! I need to get me a new headset

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