Microsoft Sidewinder : Mini Review + Opinions

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FIDDYOWNZ

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sw.jpg


Introduction
The release of the new Sidewinder by Microsoft certainly flew under the radar for me. When I saw the pictures released 1-2 months before it's release, I was excited. But for some reason - I didn't take notice of it's release. It was only because of a fortunate gift card that I headed over to Best Buy. I was browsing the shelves of input devices - I have the gift card after all, might as well spend it - and I notice the MS Siderwinder mouse. However opened, and returned, the mouse and everything else seamed in order, so I opted to go for it. I got a discount because of this anyways.

Feel/comfort
I will be honest. I was pretty skeptical at first when I saw the shape of the Sidewinder. It looked awkward...and uncomfortable. I was pleasantly surprised, however, of how comfortable it actually was. It is square, yes - but you don't put your hand over that area. It is rounded where it needs to be, and square elsewhere. It's hard to explain...it would be better for one to hold it in his hands in person The buttons are easy to reach, except one awkwardly placed towards the front of the mouse. - 10/10

Everyday Function/Use
The Sidewinder seams to be very practical, for everyday use. It did not become uncomfortable after extended amounts of time. While it does not have as many functions, as say, the MX Revolution and it's famed ''Motorized'' scroll wheel, it does just fine for everyday use. The two side buttons act as Page Forward/Backward. 'Nuff Said. - 10/10

Gaming Function/Use
As far as gaming goes, this is where this mouse shines. Once again, overtime this mouse does not get uncomfortable. The original 400DPI setting is great for me, but you can use up to 2000 - and customized DPI settings if you use the drivers. Which I did not. The drivers conflicted with my Setpoint drivers, so I just didn't bother.

I found myself getting 3 to 4 kills in a row. I was faster than normal. And the side buttons came in so useful. I soon made myself the fastest knifer in CoD4 :p. Also, I binded 'nades to the upper button.

But theres one thing I cannot figure out. Why did MS put a flat, black button on the front of the mouse? I can't even reach it without completely taking my hand off the darn thing, which sucks. Quite Honestly. 9.75/10
buttons.jpg


Accessories.
When I opened the packaging of the mouse, I noticed a heavy black box. I open it, and found the following:
accessoriesMS.jpg


The box also functions as a mouse cord holder, as well. It keeps the slack of the cord, which I found very, very interesting. Great job MS!
The 3 sets of feet are also nice, so that one can easily change the feeling of the mouse on the pad.
The Weight compartment, while seen before in Logitech mice, is OK. Its not quite as good as say, the G5 is. But it gets the job done, regardless.
loadingmechanism.jpg


This tiny screen will tell you what DPI setting you are at. You can also look at the 3 red bottons on the top of the mouse (Shown in pic below) to see which DPI setting you are at, but this is just an added bonus.It turns off over time, so save power I suppose, as well. It's bright, and it functions well.
sidelcd.jpg


The accessories are very nice, and I absolutely LOVE the box functioning as a mouse cord holder - great idea. - 10/10

Conclusion
At the end of the day, this mouse is really a great mouse. It functions well as both a gaming and as an everyday mouse. It's comfortable shape makes it easily replace my G5, which gave me cramps in my hands over time. The side buttons are a very nice touch - they are SO easy to reach. And the LCD screen not only looks cool, but functions well as a DPI read-out as well.

Pros:
  • Very Comfortable
  • Practicle for gaming
  • Pratical for everyday use
  • Great accessories
  • Fast DPI settings possible
Cons:
  • Almost completely useless button on the front
  • Pricey little fellow. 0.0

I would without a doubt recommend this mouse to anyone, gamer - or otherwise.

Thanks!
~FiDDy

(Any opinions on this review are welcome!)

Discuss!
 
Great review, especially the annotated images. :) Out of curiosity, what mouse were you using before?

I wouldn't buy this mouse simply because I love my MX518, but it's good to see Logitech getting some serious competition. Some of their recent quality control has been less than stellar IMO.
 
Nice review.

And I like the look of the Sidewinder. Shame you did not install the drivers though. Was wondering if they support upping the polling rate to 500/1000hz? Good drivers can make or break a mouse...


Ply
 
Zinn said:
Great review, especially the annotated images. :) Out of curiosity, what mouse were you using before?

I wouldn't buy this mouse simply because I love my MX518, but it's good to see Logitech getting some serious competition. Some of their recent quality control has been less than stellar IMO.
Click to expand...

I was using a G5. And I too, loved the MX518 - but when that little fellow died I couldn't find the MX518 anymore. So I got the G5 - it's gone down hill from there.

The G5 just doesn't feel right. It gave me cramps in my hand and I hated the friction on my wrist as the mouse goes over the pad.

Thanks for the props, BTW :)

Wally said:
I want to take a cricket bat to whomever styled that mouse.
Click to expand...


Eagle156 said:
freaky little thing...
Click to expand...



The red lighting under the mouse coupled with the deep red coloring of the LCD actually looks pretty cool in the dark.

plywood99 said:
Nice review.

And I like the look of the Sidewinder. Shame you did not install the drivers though. Was wondering if they support upping the polling rate to 500/1000hz? Good drivers can make or break a mouse...


Ply
Click to expand...

You know, I don't know. It would not install because it quote ''conflicted with another input device software'' or something - obviously MS trying to get us end users to use their mouse software. It wouldn't even install when Setpoint was. ::Sigh:: :confused:
 
Good review! Although I think this is a pretty fugly mouse it seems to have some nice capability to it.

plywood99 said:
Nice review.

And I like the look of the Sidewinder. Shame you did not install the drivers though. Was wondering if they support upping the polling rate to 500/1000hz? Good drivers can make or break a mouse...


Ply
Click to expand...

A good mouse should work wonderfully without additional drivers.
 
I have a FFB 2 joystick gathering dust. Bastages at MS discontinued support!
Good review FIDDYOWNZ. That's one ugly mouse.
 
Kowan said:
I have a FFB 2 joystick gathering dust. Bastages at MS discontinued support!
Good review FIDDYOWNZ. That's one ugly mouse.
Click to expand...

Haha, everyone says that.

I actually like how it looks...

:rolleyes:

But thanks for the props :)
 
digital_exhaust said:
Nice review, very well written and through... Good job.

That mouse, however...... is fucking creepy looking.....
Click to expand...

Haha thanks. I haven't written many reviews, as you can probably tell.

Gosh. I can't understand why everyone thinks its ugly lol. :confused:
 
Nice review, very well written and through... Good job.

That mouse, however...... is fucking creepy looking.....
 
I like the look of it, if my razer copperhead ever dies (knock on wood, i love this mouse) I might pick one up.
 
im not a fan of the look either.

if it looks like a transformer... i want it to be able to transform
 
FIDDYOWNZ said:
I was using a G5. And I too, loved the MX518 - but when that little fellow died I couldn't find the MX518 anymore. So I got the G5 - it's gone down hill from there.
Click to expand...

Well todays your lucky day:). I will agree with you that the MX518 was a very good mouse as I still use mine on my other pc. I played around with the Sidewinder in Circuit City but didn't really like the feel for it but that may have been because I didn't give it enough time to get use to it. As of right now I am thinking of either getting the Razor Lachesis or the Razor Boomslang CE as I have heard that its predecessor was an extremely good mouse and that the 3g laser system is finally exceeding optical for gaming purposes.
 
A harder to press button might be useful in some games where you don't want to accidentally activate some ability that might have a long cooldown, high cost, etc. but still want access to said ability to be easily available.
 
Snyper64 said:
Well todays your lucky day:). I will agree with you that the MX518 was a very good mouse as I still use mine on my other pc. I played around with the Sidewinder in Circuit City but didn't really like the feel for it but that may have been because I didn't give it enough time to get use to it. As of right now I am thinking of either getting the Razor Lachesis or the Razor Boomslang CE as I have heard that its predecessor was an extremely good mouse and that the 3g laser system is finally exceeding optical for gaming purposes.
Click to expand...

Well, if you can find the CE around, and you don't mind shelling out 100 rocks for it, then yeah, the new Boomer sure looks great. But only 10,000 being made? Oh please, Razer, thats lame. :p

dotK said:
A harder to press button might be useful in some games where you don't want to accidentally activate some ability that might have a long cooldown, high cost, etc. but still want access to said ability to be easily available.
Click to expand...

Well, thats what I thought too. But the buttons aren't actually that sensitive. I guess its just personal preference :rolleyes:

~FiD
 
hmm I wonder if this mouse is big enough for my fat hand? lol if it is i might go pick one up because my current mouse feels quite small and does not fit my hand :(
 
Someone should invent a mouse with a big spring on the top middle with a pad on top pushing your hand away. to give it a feel of less weight down on it that would be awsome
 
TechBoy said:
hmm I wonder if this mouse is big enough for my fat hand? lol if it is i might go pick one up because my current mouse feels quite small and does not fit my hand :(
Click to expand...

I believe it would be. It is definitely bigger than the G5, which already is a large mouse.
 
it looks like the two thunb buttons would be hard to press, like you have to really twist and curl your thumb.:confused:
 
The button at the front is supposed to be hard to get to as it's there for recording command macros for multiple button and key press sequences ;)
 
topcat989 said:
it looks like the two thunb buttons would be hard to press, like you have to really twist and curl your thumb.:confused:
Click to expand...

The thumb buttons are actually VERY very easy to reach. I have small hands, and I EASILY reach them.

GeezerButler said:
The button at the front is supposed to be hard to get to as it's there for recording command macros for multiple button and key press sequences ;)
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.

That makes sense then, lol. I wonder if I need to install the GUI to use this function...probably.
 
inotocracy said:
Good review! Although I think this is a pretty fugly mouse it seems to have some nice capability to it.



A good mouse should work wonderfully without additional drivers.
Click to expand...

Drivers can add functionality. And as I mentioned before, increase the usb polling rate. No mouse out there (that I know of) can increase the polling rate just through the hardware, either a driver or a hack has to be employed. I'm on Vista 64 and have yet to find a hack to up the usb polling rate. Plus some devices do not agree with a faster polling rate, causing problems. That's where well written drivers come into play, adjusting the polling rate on only the port the mouse is plugged into.

Anyway, was browsing Microcenter today and decided to pick one up. And hey, waddayaknow, it does up the polling rate to 500hz. Definite coolness! As Fiddy was saying it seems MS put a lot of thought into this mouse. The accessories are nice, two sets of extra feet, adjustable weights, and the case being weighted acts as a mouse wire holder, just too cool.

The buttons require slightly more pressure than those on my Deathadder, which is a good thing. Sometimes in the heat of action I would press buttons accidently. The scroll wheel is a solid aluminum disc with knurls for traction. It has very positive detents, but can be flicked like the Logitech mice. It does not however, have the option to turn off the detents.

As far as feel goes, not too sure yet. Will have to give my hand some time to break in. But for now it feels "decent." Just a tad too long. The two side buttons are just beyond my thumb. Shorting the butt of the mouse a quarter inch would be perfect.

Drivers are good but not great. Ms should allow ALL buttons to be customized, not just the five main ones. Fiddy mentioned the one forward side button not being easily reached. Good reason for that, it is a on the fly macro recording button. Wouldn't want to hit that button by accident. The top button, near the hump of the mouse is just kinda goofy. In Vista it opens the Games Explorer window. Xp it just brings up Intellipoint drivers. Definitely a waste of a button...


Ply
 
plywood99 said:
Drivers can add functionality. And as I mentioned before, increase the usb polling rate. No mouse out there (that I know of) can increase the polling rate just through the hardware, either a driver or a hack has to be employed. I'm on Vista 64 and have yet to find a hack to up the usb polling rate. Plus some devices do not agree with a faster polling rate, causing problems. That's where well written drivers come into play, adjusting the polling rate on only the port the mouse is plugged into.
Click to expand...

Dont plenty of mice allow you to adjust the sensitivity in the hardware on the fly? My MX518 does. I can adjust it by pushing a button on the mouse, regardless of the OS.
 
inotocracy said:
Dont plenty of mice allow you to adjust the sensitivity in the hardware on the fly? My MX518 does. I can adjust it by pushing a button on the mouse, regardless of the OS.
Click to expand...

Yeah the three buttons next to the scroll wheel adjust sensitivity, without the need of drivers...


Ply
 
plywood99 said:
Drivers can add functionality. And as I mentioned before, increase the usb polling rate. No mouse out there (that I know of) can increase the polling rate just through the hardware, either a driver or a hack has to be employed. I'm on Vista 64 and have yet to find a hack to up the usb polling rate. Plus some devices do not agree with a faster polling rate, causing problems. That's where well written drivers come into play, adjusting the polling rate on only the port the mouse is plugged into.

Anyway, was browsing Microcenter today and decided to pick one up. And hey, waddayaknow, it does up the polling rate to 500hz. Definite coolness! As Fiddy was saying it seems MS put a lot of thought into this mouse. The accessories are nice, two sets of extra feet, adjustable weights, and the case being weighted acts as a mouse wire holder, just too cool.

The buttons require slightly more pressure than those on my Deathadder, which is a good thing. Sometimes in the heat of action I would press buttons accidently. The scroll wheel is a solid aluminum disc with knurls for traction. It has very positive detents, but can be flicked like the Logitech mice. It does not however, have the option to turn off the detents.

As far as feel goes, not too sure yet. Will have to give my hand some time to break in. But for now it feels "decent." Just a tad too long. The two side buttons are just beyond my thumb. Shorting the butt of the mouse a quarter inch would be perfect.

Drivers are good but not great. Ms should allow ALL buttons to be customized, not just the five main ones. Fiddy mentioned the one forward side button not being easily reached. Good reason for that, it is a on the fly macro recording button. Wouldn't want to hit that button by accident. The top button, near the hump of the mouse is just kinda goofy. In Vista it opens the Games Explorer window. Xp it just brings up Intellipoint drivers. Definitely a waste of a button...


Ply
Click to expand...

I hope you like it as much as I do. :)

Great comment + Mini review + opinions Ply :)
 
I actually like the looks of this mouse. However I just picked up an MX518 at Best Buy just two weeks ago. They still have it, and the Circuit City by me also has it in stock. :D
 
Well I bought this mouse for work, I was looking for a mouse that had On-the-fly DPI change for my Photoshop detail stuff at work and was tired of bringing my G9 to work everyday, which isn't very good for mice. I really love my G9 though, it's small but comfy and I love ALL the settings on it.

But anyways, I was planning on going to my local Office Depot to pick up the Habu because that's the only mouse I knew in town that had on-the-fly DPI changing, but when I got there I saw the brand new Sidewinder!!1 :eek: So I looked at both of them, and I figured what the hey, the Sidewinder looks cool, and I had the company credit card :p

So I haven't actually played too many games with it, I played a TINY bit of Crysis (like 15 minutes) and that was on an 8500GT so not the most comfortable experience. My experiences have been all day-to-day stuff. I've grown used to the shape of the mouse, but it took me at least a week. At first it was just so.... big. I'm not sure how small your hands are FIDDY, but for me I would have my hand on the mouse and basically have to move it up an eighth of an inch so my thumb would be able to hit the side buttons. I'm assuming this is probably because I go back and forth between a small more finger-only mouse, my G9, to a seemingly huge-ass palm mouse, that it doesn't feel 100% good for me. I have figured out I'm basically a finger mouse type user, but I don't mind using the Sidewinder either.

Other than being big for me, the layout is pretty nice on the mouse. The DPI switching buttons aren't in the way and actually having 3 different buttons for 3 different settings isn't a bad idea, although I think I prefer the +/- settings on my G9, they both work out extremely well. I say I prefer the G9, but I actually think the Sidewinders layout for DPI switching is a little more beneficial. With the G9, you can have up to 5 DPI settings, with the Sidewinder, only 3. But with the G9, to go from the lowest to highest DPI, if you set up all 5, you need to click the button 4 times. With the Sidewinder, you can go from highest to lowest in one click and vice versa, which can actually be pretty important in the heat of battle.

The side buttons I like on the Sidewinder, I really do. Now that I think of it, I was binding the same way you did FIDDY in CoD4, knife and grenade on the side buttons, but the buttons beside each other aren't the absolute greatest placement on the G9. I don't think I've accidentally knifed when I wanted to nade, but the Sidewinder buttons are nice in the way that they're sticking out so that you will never accidentally tap it, and one is above the other so you don't have to reach, just go up or down (although I still have to reach for it :p)

Anyways, all in all I think I've grown accustomed to the Sidewinder. I'm pretty sure I much rather prefer my G9 just because it's smaller, has a higher DPI and I like the better features it has, but the Sidewinder is still a great mouse. A little big for me, but the layout is top notch.

I have basically one gripe with the mouse though. The dumbass button on the palm rest. I've never pressed it accidentally, but I mean, why is it there? It's a gaming mouse, but that doesn't mean we want a button that we cannot bind right in the middle of the mouse that will only open up a program I never plan on using (Vista games or something stupid like that, it's some kind of game launcher for all your games in Vista). I think it's basically just Microsoft promoting Microsoft. Personally, I have all the games I play linked on the quick launch on the taskbar, so I would never use that button.

Also to note, the lights are kind of cool, reminds me of a jet plane or ship of some sort, but with a red light, haha. All in all, a pretty nice mouse. If you like bigger mice I would recommend it for sure.
 
Jodiuh said:
Alright, time to visit Fry's. They've got it on sale and I've wanted to see how it compares w/ the others.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy it. :)

axelf86 said:
I actually like the looks of this mouse. However I just picked up an MX518 at Best Buy just two weeks ago. They still have it, and the Circuit City by me also has it in stock. :D
Click to expand...

plywood99 said:
^^
Yeah I really like the look, kinda rustic industrial...or something...:p


Ply
Click to expand...

Finally, some people who think it looks cool. I was feeling left out for awhile there :)

Citizen86 said:
Well I bought this mouse for work, I was looking for a mouse that had On-the-fly DPI change for my Photoshop detail stuff at work and was tired of bringing my G9 to work everyday, which isn't very good for mice. I really love my G9 though, it's small but comfy and I love ALL the settings on it.

But anyways, I was planning on going to my local Office Depot to pick up the Habu because that's the only mouse I knew in town that had on-the-fly DPI changing, but when I got there I saw the brand new Sidewinder!!1 :eek: So I looked at both of them, and I figured what the hey, the Sidewinder looks cool, and I had the company credit card :p

So I haven't actually played too many games with it, I played a TINY bit of Crysis (like 15 minutes) and that was on an 8500GT so not the most comfortable experience. My experiences have been all day-to-day stuff. I've grown used to the shape of the mouse, but it took me at least a week. At first it was just so.... big. I'm not sure how small your hands are FIDDY, but for me I would have my hand on the mouse and basically have to move it up an eighth of an inch so my thumb would be able to hit the side buttons. I'm assuming this is probably because I go back and forth between a small more finger-only mouse, my G9, to a seemingly huge-ass palm mouse, that it doesn't feel 100% good for me. I have figured out I'm basically a finger mouse type user, but I don't mind using the Sidewinder either.

Other than being big for me, the layout is pretty nice on the mouse. The DPI switching buttons aren't in the way and actually having 3 different buttons for 3 different settings isn't a bad idea, although I think I prefer the +/- settings on my G9, they both work out extremely well. I say I prefer the G9, but I actually think the Sidewinders layout for DPI switching is a little more beneficial. With the G9, you can have up to 5 DPI settings, with the Sidewinder, only 3. But with the G9, to go from the lowest to highest DPI, if you set up all 5, you need to click the button 4 times. With the Sidewinder, you can go from highest to lowest in one click and vice versa, which can actually be pretty important in the heat of battle.

The side buttons I like on the Sidewinder, I really do. Now that I think of it, I was binding the same way you did FIDDY in CoD4, knife and grenade on the side buttons, but the buttons beside each other aren't the absolute greatest placement on the G9. I don't think I've accidentally knifed when I wanted to nade, but the Sidewinder buttons are nice in the way that they're sticking out so that you will never accidentally tap it, and one is above the other so you don't have to reach, just go up or down (although I still have to reach for it :p)

Anyways, all in all I think I've grown accustomed to the Sidewinder. I'm pretty sure I much rather prefer my G9 just because it's smaller, has a higher DPI and I like the better features it has, but the Sidewinder is still a great mouse. A little big for me, but the layout is top notch.

I have basically one gripe with the mouse though. The dumbass button on the palm rest. I've never pressed it accidentally, but I mean, why is it there? It's a gaming mouse, but that doesn't mean we want a button that we cannot bind right in the middle of the mouse that will only open up a program I never plan on using (Vista games or something stupid like that, it's some kind of game launcher for all your games in Vista). I think it's basically just Microsoft promoting Microsoft. Personally, I have all the games I play linked on the quick launch on the taskbar, so I would never use that button.

Also to note, the lights are kind of cool, reminds me of a jet plane or ship of some sort, but with a red light, haha. All in all, a pretty nice mouse. If you like bigger mice I would recommend it for sure.
Click to expand...

Yeah. It is a big mouse, and I'm glad you liked it. I guess it depends on what you prefer in a mouse - you can't really compare the SW and the G9...their too different. As far as gaming mice go, they're both great.

~FiD
 
Thanks a lot for the review, very informative!

If i'm not wrong you haven't mentioned the wheel, does it have the same feel as logitech ones (step by step spin) or is free spinning like old MS mice? (haven't tried them for some years). Please forgive my engrish :D

I'm actually using a G5 v1 which was great when purchased but the lack of a second thumb button and some other annoyances (i.e. non precise wheel steps, rough feet, etc.) make me consider upgrading it.

btw, I also like the looks of the Sidewinder ;)

cheers!
 
This fellow hit on that subject quite well, something I forgot to mention in my review.

plywood99 said:
... The scroll wheel is a solid aluminum disc with knurls for traction. It has very positive detents, but can be flicked like the Logitech mice. It does not however, have the option to turn off the detents.


Ply
Click to expand...

~FiD
 
How is the macro record button useless? If it is not in a good position for your thumb use your finger. Mine hits is just fine..
 
I like that this mouse is a bit bigger than others, or at least feels like it.
I have been using a trackball explorer for years and can't find them any more.
I tried a couple of the logitechs and they are great mice but my hand just swallows them, I can't use the side buttons very well because they are just too small.

It seems most mice are designed for women or kids (size wise)...
At 2000 dpi this thing just flys, the highest I use is 1600 dpi on a 32" monitor.
 
I just want to verify something for sure about this mouse. The scroll wheel is just up and down, not side to side correct? Is it easy to press?

I am considering ditching my G5 because I feel the 3rd mouse button is totally useless due to the design of the wheel. I cannot press it without scrolling in one of the four directions.
 
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