Customer Reviews

Microsoft SideWinder Gaming Mouse

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This mouse is not perfect but I would have given it a 4.5 so I upgraded it to a 5.

For my large hands this mouse feels just right. It moves well on my nylon mat that I use for a pad and I have tried it on a hardwood desktop with good results. The mouse has very good yaw and pitch movement and it is easy to adjust dpi setting on the fly.

It has a quick turn feature that works very well in first person shooters. you assign one of the buttons for quick turn around and as your playing if you want to check who's behind you click the button and you turn 180 degree's. If you need to change your direction fast because you can see your out numbered ahead it comes in mighty handy.

The top buttons have a good responsive click to them and I had no problem with learning the over and under side buttons, which I perfer over my old Logitec MX518 foward and aft configuration.

The weight of this mouse without adding extra weights feels about the same as the MX518. I choose to add 5 grams of weight to it and perfer it that way.

The mouse wheel has a micro feeling touch and a little too light for my taste, but I got use to it fairly quickly. The one feature I think would have made this a great mouse would to have put side push switching on the wheel for adjusting look around corners.

I think this mouse is well constructed and will hold up for a long while.

If you running windows/vista than it has two other buttons that bring up the game file and macro changing, useful but not really must have feature.

All in all a confident and very good gaming mouse.

This is a reasonable gaming mouse, but has some problems which may be dealbreakers for you.

Pro:
-adjustable weight (I like mine heavy)
-adjustable sensitivity, whether you like to twitch your wrist or engage the whole arm, you can create settings that feel good to you.
-BIG, It's massive, one thing that always bugged me about the Logitech G5 was that my hand wrapped around it, the Sidewinder is enormous, and my hand rests atop it, quite comfortably I might add.
-Detent scrolling, many mice have switched to smooth scrolling which is much less useful for weapon selection in FPS games.
-Macro button allows you to create macros in game, on the fly

Con:
-detents in the scroll wheel don't have as much resistance as I would like
-would like more weight (included weights allow addition of 30g max.)
-no tilting scroll wheel, my previous mouse had a tilting wheel which I used for leaning left and right in F.E.A.R. , however, as few games implement this feature, this isn't a major issue. However, I also used wheel tilting to switch between tabs in my browser (Opera), so I still use that G5 for general use and browsing, and have the Sidewinder strictly for gaming.

The addition of a tilting wheel would have easily boosted this to 5 stars. If you like tilting wheel mice for browsing, as I do, consider a logitech G9, which has an almost identical feature set, minus the macro button.

Sidewinder just feels good. Customizable weights make your pointer swoop across the screen with predictible accuracy. The 360 view feature gives my World of Warcraft character a great advantage with situational awareness. Thumb buttons are very easy to find. A well thought out mouse for gaming.

Took a bit to set it up, but works like a charm now.

I have major trouble finding good peripherals. I go through keyboards like candy and mice like Gatorade after a long bike ride, so I was really glad to finally get my hands (literally) on a keyboard (Microsoft SideWinder X6 Keyboard) and mouse that I'm happy with.

A wired mouse was a must for me as the RF connection hiccups that occur occasionally, no matter how rarely, bug me horribly (though with the Bluetooth setup on my Mac I've had no real issues). I also have trouble with occasional wrist pain - a minor carpal tunnel issue - so finding a comfortable mouse was very important to me. And while the SideWinder mouse isn't perfect, I'm keeping it.

The first things that struck me about the mouse were the size (it's big) and the shape (it's weird). But for me, they work well: the unconventional size and shape allow me to shift my grip throughout the day while still being able to reach all the controls. This keeps the pain away better than any other mouse I've ever used, particularly those that force me into holding my hand in the same position all day long.

The scroll wheel and forward/back buttons are next up: I've found the buttons a bit too far forward for me (my hands aren't HUGE), though not far enough to make their position a deal-breaker. The scroll wheel is graduated, meaning it doesn't spin free like some others, but has excellent feel and weight to it. It also doubles as a button; I've mapped mine to the Vista Flip 3D function that shows all open windows. This is a function I got addicted to on my Mac (where I use expose mapped to a scroll-wheel press) as I tend to have a lot of windows open at once and can get a bit lost. My only complaint here is that I have trouble finding the perfect setting for scroll wheel increments - sometimes each step goes too far, but making them shorter can make scrolling long pages a pain in the butt (this can mitigated a bit by using accelerated scrolling).

There are a few more things make this mouse unique. First, there are three DPI switches on the top of the mouse which allow you to change the mouse resolution on-the-fly. The new resolution is displayed in a small LCD window on the mouse itself, and each of the three pre-set DPIs are changeable using the mouse software. Second, there's the weighting system: the mouse comes with set a of 5g and 10g weights (two of each) three of which can be inserted into the mouse body in a slide-out tray. Third, the mouse comes with three different sets of feet that can be easily switched out to find the optimum material for your mousing surface. The differences aren't huge, but I have found that picking the right feet makes the mouse slide easier. Finally, the feet and weights all store easily in a small box that has a slot through which the mouse cord can be fed; this makes it not only a handy storage container but an excellent cord control device.

As for the software, it's exactly what you'd expect. You can map all the buttons (except for the one which opens your games folder...stupid, that..though it is out of the way) pretty much any way you'd like, including making program-specific setups. I've had no crashes of the driver, and everything has worked flawlessly for me since day one. Please not that I have only used this with my PC, and have NOT tested it with any of my Macs.

If I could change anything about the mouse I might make it a TINY bit smaller, I'd definitely make the game-launch button re-mappable, and I'd add the ability to put the scroll wheel into a free-spin mode (like some Logitech mice). Overall though, the good FAR outweighs the bad, and I'm not changing mice anytime soon.

I normally don't post reviews, but felt I owed it to the girl gamer community :)

This mouse is way too big for my hand and I am tall and don't have the smallest hands. SO if you are a guy and your hands are on the small side, you may want to stray from this mouse as well. My thumb barely reaches the two side buttons (4 & 5) I found I had to turn my hand awkardly on the mouse to be able to hit them comfortably. Even the middle mouse button is a stretch, but is sensitive enough its a little less cumbersome.

Its a shame because I really like the response time of the mouse and I like a heavier mouse and it moves really smooth for being heavier. SO I gave this one to my husband and went back to my logitek.

So if you have exceptionally large hands this may be the mouse for you :)

The mouse does everything as promised per Microsoft's specifications.

1. Being a laser mouse, Not optical, It will scan on just about any surface I place it on, except glass, Yes I have 2nd PC on a glass desktop.
2. It is highly accurate and has shift on the fly DPI settings (400, 800, 2000) great for a 1st person shooter game. If you don't like the presets, it's customizable as well.
3. Teflon feet makes it move extra smooth, and as an added bonus you get two more sets of feet for desired surface tension and you can remove the feet by hand (No tools needed).
4. Weights, you can adjust how heavy the mouse is by adding weights up to 30grams, Example if you like a good solid feel to the mouse, add some weights to it, or if you want to move the mouse with very little effort then remove all the weights.
5. 7 buttons, (1,2)Top Left & Right buttons; (3)Click center scroll (metal) wheel; (4)DPI select (3 small buttons); (5,6)Two back space buttons (programmable via another button) on the left side of the mouse, these are placed in a vertical position which makes it easier for you to maneuver your thumb; (7)Programmable Menu button.
6. The accessories (weights & mouse feet) come in a small case which clips to the mouse cord and keeps it steady or out of your way.

Okay a couple of cons,

1.The center scroll wheel is made out of metal and has serrations in the center, But is is slippery (No rubber coating) and takes time to get used to and, it's not a tilt wheel (Use the thumbs buttons instead.
2. Being a gamer mouse, you may not wan't all those DPI settings or adding weights, or don't add the weights and leave the DPI settings alone.
3. It's a corded mouse.
4. Retail price is about $75.00,
shop around (I got mine for less then $40 on Amazon).

Conclusion,
This is good full featured mouse, the plastic housing has a matte finish to it, cool red glowing lights on the bottom, illuminated display's on top. If you want a mouse with all the bells & whistles than this is for you.

I have pretty big hands, and the Logitech mice have always been great for me in most respects, except that I *never* used the DPI switching on the fly. I would like to remap those keys to a 'cruise up' and 'cruise down', which worked really well.

The problem is, that occasionally the mouse would 'reset' itself to a lower DPI, and I'd be mid-game trying to get it back. I'd have to go map the key to "increase sensitivity", then go back into the game and play again. It was truly annoying, and it is the single reason I won't buy another Logitech mouse.

I saw Microsoft's Sidewinder mouse and I took a chance on it -- it looked reasonable, and being the owner of several Microsoft Keyboards over the years, I don't have any problem with their hardware quality. This mouse is no exception.

The plastic may seem flimsy, but feeling the scroll wheel tells you the internals of it are reasonably well made. It has solid mouse buttons and they are comfortable for a larger hand like mine (it's not a HUGE hand, but big). The macro keys are something I rarely use because if you play competitively, you have to take out the 'cheats' in games. But all in all, it's a really great mouse.

The SOFTWARE. It's great. The scroll wheel (if you use it in applications rather than games) can increase scrolling speed the faster you scroll with the software. It's quite brilliant. The detents in the scroll make it exceptionally good for gaming, as you know if you switch weapons easily -- you feel it in the wheel. My hand has never accidentally hit the DPI switch -- not once. And if your hand does, it's a quick switch back and you can view the LCD to tell you exactly what you're sitting at as well.

All in all, if you're tired of Logitech's poor software and key remapping, you have large hands, and you want a good gaming mouse -- this is the one for you. Again, I never switch DPI on ANY mouse I've ever owned (and I've owned a lot) so if you play like that... you'll find the Sidewinder a welcome choice.

By the way, the Sidewinder X5 is not worth it -- this mouse has more features and seems better to me, so save your $30 or whatever and buy this mouse. Amazon shipping and support never fails me.

This mouse could have been so much better. There are a number of issues which keep this good mouse from being great.

I own a Logitech G7 which has been serving me well, but I decided to give the Sidewinder a try primarily because of the additional button on the side. Also, I was getting annoyed with having to swap out the rechargeable battery.

The negatives:

Compared to the G7 it looks and feels like a bit of a toy. The less than impressive LCD sports a clear plastic cover which contributes to the toy-like look. The three DPI selection buttons look like illuminated plastic Lite-Brite pegs.

The bottom of the mouse is a molded red plastic which reminds me of a cheap Transformer action figure. Another toy reference, but it begs for the comparison.

The other big disappointment is the feet. The G7 has a smooth material which works great on almost any surface. The Sidewinder has molded plastic feet which don't run as smoothly on a mouse pad. Included are three different sets of interchangeable feet which they claim support different "glide preferences", but to me they seem identical but for the color.

Now for positives:

The scroll wheel is excellent. It is textured metal with just the right weight and resistance.

Two programmable buttons on the side.... It has a third button which allows you to record mouse macros. I haven't explored this feature, but it may come in handy at some point.

The the DPI buttons (though they look like Lite Brite pegs) allow for easier switching when compared to the G7. The G7 has up/down buttons which cycle through the DPI options. With the Sidewinder you can instantly jump to any of the three settings.

Adjustable weight... I'm not hard core enough to feel that + or - a few grams will actually impact my gaming performance, but it is a nice novelty.

Nice shape... it definitely feels comfortable in the hand.

Great responsiveness...

Conclusion:

Even with all of the aesthestic issues and a few practical dings against it, the mouse really does perform well. It holds up well against the G7 in terms of actual performance. I'm still using the Sidewinder over the G7 at this point and I don't think I'll be switching back.

It's a nice mouse but if you are planing on using it for online gaming be sure the game doesn't have something like game guard that prevents you from using macros. Before I bought this mouse I was unaware that the macro buttons wouldn't work in my online game until I actually tried using them in the game. The reason I bought this mouse was to use it in my online games so I was pretty disappointed about that. Overall it is a good mouse but I find I don't really ever use the extra buttons now that I can't use them in my games.

First off some demographics

Male
38
Married
One Child
Home Owner
Some College

I purchased this product with the intent to use the mouse to complement my ZBoard Gaming KeyBoard. The mouse was very straight forward to setup and the extra weights make the experience of using this gaming mouse wonderful. I like the options of being able to adjust the dpi of the mouse on the fly. (400,800, and 2000) I use the lower setting when I play flying sims. This mouse has held up well. It should be cleaned often (once a month) to maintain its appearance and functionally.Also the little feet on the bottom of the mouse are replaceable. The feet should screw in not snap in.

I would not hesitate to recommend this item to a fellow gamer.