Before You Buy the Microsoft SideWinder X8 Mouse Read This Review!

Microsoft SideWinder X8 Mouse Review by Shannon

My Overall Rating:

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Take hold of the Microsoft Sidewinder X8 mouse and you will experience performance and gaming fun like you never have before! This award winning addition to Microsoft’s award winning line of SideWinder gaming products is a complete desktop gaming system that comes with breakthrough Microsoft BlueTrack Technology, 2.4 GHz wireless, USB charging while you play, an advanced design for precise handling and fast action, adjustable feet, custom tuning-and much more.

Product Features:

• Play and Charge: You will be able to get up to 30 hours of active gaming on a single charge, or you can use the play and charge cable for non-stop action.
• BlueTrack™ Technology: This is the world’s most advanced tracking technology for gaming with image processing of 13,000 frames per second, with improved tracking on carpet, granite, and even wood surfaces.
• Quick Launch Button: One-touch access to Microsoft PC gaming features
• Vertical Side Buttons: Top/bottom design makes it easier to locate side buttons and reduces inadvertant actuation risk
• Engineered for Speed: Shape designed for quick, balanced, precision gaming action
• Scroll Wheel with Tilt: Better feel and response with detents for precise control

Check out this cool video review of the Microsoft SideWinder X8 Mouse

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The Pros:

• Incredible tracking with 4000 DPI
• Wireless with awesome battery life
• Customizable buttons
• Best cordless system there is
• No lag
• Button placement is perfect
• Button and wheel click just feels right
• Lots of buttons and easy to use software to program the buttons, which is great for games where many buttons are necessary such as MMOs.
• Comfortable – I especially liked the vertical thumb buttons instead of the horizontal ones that typically appear on mice and make you feel like you have to reach to get to the far one.
• Fun styling: The tracking technology is excellent and really does work just about everywhere
  Wireless is nice (while battery life holds out) and very responsive – I can’t tell the difference between this mouse and a wired mouse for responsiveness.

The Cons:

• It does not have the best mouse feet pads
• Not for people with really small hands
• It has a questionable grip
• Clicker is very slippery
• Rear bottom of mouse curves up. This causes it to do wheelies if you put much weight on the back of the mouse. This is very easy due to the tall hump at the rear of the unit.
• A bit heavy, making fingertip precision movements in fast-paced games difficult
• Battery life – battery life was excellent at first (lasting 3-4 days), but I found that after about six months the battery would only last a day before having to be recharged. I ended up just leaving the charger plugged in full time. Even when I replaced the battery with a different rechargeable AA, it never achieved the same battery life as before.

Let’s take a look at what current owners have to say about the Microsoft SideWinder X8 Mouse

Review by Jeffery G. The most helpful favorable review

This mouse is the best mouse I have owned and I like it better than any Logitech mouse. There I have said it.
To start off with this matches and compliments my Microsoft Sidewinder X6 keyboard. While this mouse is not for small hands, my hand is of normal size and the mouse feels good. The mouse comes with the Intellipoint software where you can really gear the mouse up as you would like. The X8 Mouse is a gaming cordless USB drive mouse with a round disk with one end plugged into a USB slot and then it gives a cord that rolls out from the disk that you attach to the base of the mouse when you want to recharge or use it as a corded mouse. It is the best of both worlds.

Review shortened for size — read full review here

Review by T. Gardner The most helpful critical review

Received in 2 days , plugged in and worked flawlessly, but for my hand size(med-large), this mouse was very uncomfortable. It is a little flatter than I am used too, with no hump in the middle to provide support,and I found my handing gravitating toward the back of the mouse. I had to ‘claw’ grip this mouse, with thumb and pinky finger having to grip sides of the mouse and it soon became very uncomfortable.

Read original review here