After nearly smashing the controller to bits, i've switched to keyboard and mouse and discovered how hotkeys and a good mouse can finally make combat somewhat more enjoyable by allowing me to reduce combat interruptions and menu navigation, and to aim accurately either with ranged attacks or with melee weaponry.
Lets face it, action and combat mechanics in Skyrim SUCK compared to other games, eg Batman Arkham City or Assassin's Creed 2.
You just cannot fight well with a gamepad if there is no aiming auto-lock. In Skyrim's melee combat, if your crosshair is not touching the enemy, you will not make a hit. Simply facing the enemy is not enough. You cannot move a crosshair/cursor onscreen accurately with an analogue stick - no matter how much you practice, mouse control will always be far far superior.
That IS the bottom line on this matter.
Also, panning the camera around with the gamepad is very slow, even with sensitivity raised to 3 times the maximum, via the .ini file,and it seems to reduce the game's framerate too. The sticks are just too small , and raising the sensitivity even more makes it impossible to aim accurately as you cannot make small adjustments .
Now what we need is a mod for more hotkeys , with the ability to assign potions to them! Having to interrupt combat to navigate manus and locate the right potion, and not poison, is a MAJOR PITA.