Well, after reading Watsyurdeal?’s review of the Razer Lachesis, I went out and purchased one, upgrading from my worn out Logitech G7. Two days in, the new grip started giving me hand cramps after half an hour of playing, and I couldn’t hit a thing in any game. The narrowness of the Lachesis forced me to ‘pinch’ the mouse, which was terribly uncomfortable after dealing with the large, wide G7 (note: the G7 has the same body as the G5, for those not familiar with Logitech’s now defunct wireless G7). So I went out on the prowl again for a wider, more palm-filling mouse. And that search led me to Microsoft’s latest and greatest gaming toy, the Sidewinder X8.

Unboxing

The Sidewinder is packaged fairly simply, especially compared to the glitz of the Razer packages.



Contents: Mouse, one dinky little NiCad rechargeable AA battery, cable/receiver/foot storage/charger thing, and the intellipoint software CD.



Installation was simple, just select the X8 from the list of mice and install intellipoint. Again, Microsoft has actually gone for the plain and simple approach, so there’s no fancy graphics to the interface, no edgy colors or anything. Just a glorified mouse setup window, with some added tabs for setting buttons and sensitivity settings. An interesting tidbit, however, is this entire interface is accessible from the mouse, using the silver button on the top center of the mouse. It saves you from having to go into menus or into a toolbar icon to get to anything. Minor, but moderately useful.




Specifications

The X8 has all kinds of disturbingly high specifications: 4000 dpi, 75g’s of acceleration, the works. It ranks up there with all the other high-end gaming mice, and may even outperform some due to Microsoft’s new BlueTrack technology. The short version of BlueTrack is simple; this puppy will give you 4000 dpi on almost any surface, even glass tables. 12 buttons, 7 programmable, plus a macro recording feature built directly into the mouse, if that’s your deal.


The Meat

Here’s a few side-by-side shots of my Lachesis and the new X8:




So let’s start with the big thing. This baby is wireless. I know, I know what you’re thinking: ‘But Manse, wireless will lead to lag, interference, missed shots, increased teen pregnancy, and shouldn’t be used for gamers.’ Allow me to be the first to tell you, you’re out of your mind. I’ve had a wireless gaming mouse for several years with zero interference issues or any other problem. The X8 (and Razer’s Mamba) is the latest and greatest. The receiver is built into the (rather large) puck that sits on your desk, similar to the wire holder for the original Sidewinder. At a distance of a few feet, max, from your mouse, you won’t lose a thing.

Okay, I can hear the next whine-fest now: ‘B-but Manse, what happens if the battery goes dead mid-frag. I’m suddenly out a mouse and doomed for eternity.’ Not in the slightest, my friend. The old Logitech G7 got around the battery issue by giving you two hot swappable Lithium batteries. The X8 has a different plan. Wrapped around your receiver is a 3 foot wire with a magnet in the end. It clicks into place on the underside of the mouse for recharging. Best of all, you can recharge while you play, meaning you’re never out a mouse. Microsoft says the AA battery will give you 30 hours of game time, and 5-10 minutes recharge per hour of play. I haven’t fully tested these ranges out, but I have no reason to doubt them too much. The magnet is strong, so don’t worry about it disconnecting during rapid motion or anything of that nature. And if you’re doing a weekend long session and don’t want to be wired at any point, the X8 accepts any rechargeable AA battery, so just grab a spare and keep it charged as a backup.



Now that everyone has nice, warm, fuzzy feelings about wireless mice, we can talk about where this thing shines: combat. The first point I’ll mention is the three sensitivity setting buttons on the top of the mouse. These let you pick one of 3 pre-set dpi settings, all customized in the intellipoint software. I’m a fan of this over Logitech and Razer’s usual increase/decrease buttons. You can go from high to low with one click, rather than having to click through several settings. The sensitivity button you’re set on lights up, and the small LCD on the mouse displays your sensitivity setting. That’s handy, as I never knew where I really was with my Lachesis.



Next up are the vertical side buttons that you can see in the above pic. At their default setting, I was not a fan. However, after a quick swap of mouse button 4 and 5, I now have ‘back’ as the top button (and my Push-to-talk in game/vent) and forward as the bottom. They’re easy to use, though I wish they were a tad further back. Going to a toggle design over the original Sidewinder’s individual buttons is a huge improvement.

Some of the random added goodies include 3 sets of feet for different surfaces/glide preferences. They are stored in the top of the puck and are easy to swap out. While you lose the changeable weights of the original sidewinder, this can help by changing the sliding feel of the mouse. This allows changing of the inertia by modifying the friction coefficient, not the weight/normal force, for the science majors.



Overall, the X8 is a solid mouse. The only comparable thing on the market is Razer’s Mamba, which offers shorter battery life and a higher price tag. MSRP from Microsoft is $99, but it can be found online for as low as $75.

Pros:

Wireless (wired recharging, won’t affect your game)
Light, with multiple feet to swap out as you see fit
4000 dpi, with switching on the fly

Cons:

Pricey, but evenly matched with other high-end mice
Size may not appeal to some