My experience is that they work okay at first but die really quick. Normally it is the analog sticks that give out first, they just start to become less and less accurate and start to drift. You can compensate for this in software by setting your dead zone larger, but that also means your controller becomes less accurate. Eventually they just get so bad they are unusable. Average time mine as lasted is about 6 months. Overall I found it cheaper to by a OEM controller that will last me a few years.
My Xbox360 and HTPC (which I also game on) sit next to each other in my entertainment center. I have never been able to get my wireless controllers to work on my PC, it always tries to connect to the Xbox, even to the point of turning it on when it is off. It just became easier to get wired controllers with USB extension cables.
If anyone knows how to do this I would be grateful.
The driver for the Xbox wireless dongle doesn't detect correctly in Windows which is funny because they're both MS products but true. You have to go into device manager and tell the computer what the dongle actually is.
From MS:
Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows
On Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows, you can use Device Manager to help troubleshoot problems with your controller, see whether the correct items are listed, and to make sure there are no conflicts.
Note A conflict is marked by a yellow exclamation point in Device Manager.
To use Device Manager, follow these steps:
https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-on-windows/accessories/xbox-controller-for-windows-help
Select Start, then Run, then type sysdm.cpl, and then select OK.
On the Hardware tab, select Device Manager.
When the controller is successfully installed, you see three entries in Device Manager. There should be two entries under Human Interface Devices:
HID-compliant game controller
USB Human Interface Device
Additionally, there should be a third entry in under Microsoft Common Controller for Windows Class:
Xbox 360 Controller for Windows
If you see yellow exclamation points next to any of these entries, there's a problem with the installation. If there's a problem for either of the entries under Human Interface Devices, first verify that the problem is caused by the controller by unplugging it. If a hardware conflict with the controller was causing the problem, the yellow exclamation point will no longer appear after the controller is unplugged.