Microsoft Sidewinder X8 Mouse
microsoft's top of the range gaming mouse - Microsoft Sidewinder X8 Mouse Mouse / Trackball

Product Type: Microsoft mice & trackballs

Newest Review: ... and extremely accurate with no discernable delay or wake up time. There is a very smart charging cord with an innovative magnetic cli... more

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microsoft's top of the range gaming mouse
Microsoft Sidewinder X8 Mouse

speedycoolbird

Member Name: speedycoolbird

Product:

Microsoft Sidewinder X8 Mouse

Date: 27/08/11

Rating:

Advantages: lightweight, good positioning of macros

Disadvantages: none

I was looking for a good quality gaming mouse with macro's buttons and a good scroll wheel. This mouse seemed to tick all the boxes, so although quite pricey I ordered one.


I was immediately impressed with the high build quality, especially the scroll wheel which was metallic and had click stops, which I like. You can customize the buttons in any way. It is very sensitive, which is adjustable, and extremely accurate with no discernable delay or wake up time. There is a very smart charging cord with an innovative magnetic clip. You can use and charge at the same time and you wouldn't know that the cord was attached, as it is so thin and flexible. The mouse pulses orange when it needs charging. A small LCD screen shows the charging status and the sensitivity.


I have quite small hands and find that for me the mouse is a bit big, but I think most normal people would find the size just right. I wasn't too keen on the rather small vertically mounted forward and back buttons, so I reprogrammed the scroll wheel push function to be the back button and that solved the problem for me. Two gimmicks are the programmable macro button and the go to games folder button. These are both unreachable in normal use, but maybe someone will find a use for them, they don't detract from an excellent mouse. There is a switch on the base which allows you to switch off the mouse but I have never bothered to use it as the battery life is very good, it lasts for weeks of heavy use. The battery is a single AA rechargeable so is user replaceable or uses a standard AA in an emergency, just don't try charging it! It is 2.4GHz, but not Bluetooth, so will work alongside Bluetooth or 27MHz devices without problems.
This is an excellent wireless mouse, very accurate, excellent scroll wheel, a host of features, good battery life and a smart charging system.

Summary: a very good mouse thats accurate and reliable

Processing/Quality:    Processing/Quality
Reliability:    Reliability
Ease of use:    Ease of use
Speed:    Speed
Variety of features:    Variety of features
Precision:    Precision