Log on to a FPS server and say you’re using a wireless mouse.  Then disconnect out of shame from the thumping you just took from the people online.  The internet can be a cruel place, especially for gamers who don’t want a cord running from their mouse to the back of their PC case.

The Microsoft Sidewinder X8 is a gaming mouse that’s attempting to change the way gamers think about wireless mice.  It combines all of the key gaming features into a wireless package, that I feel succeeds in a big meaningful way.  This mouse dishes out a ton of awesome (and yes I know that’s not really a noun).

The Sidewinder X8 is an imposing mouse, packed with features and speedy enough to compete with its wired brethren and cut them down.

Anytime you talk about a gaming mouse, you have to start with performance.  Does it go where I point?  Does it shoot when I want it to shoot?  Pretty basic questions, but the Sidewinder X8 faces additional scrutiny because Microsoft cut its tail.

Some gamers say they won’t touch a wireless mouse because of the lag involved.  They’ll say the time between the click and the registering of the click will be enough to turn a headshot into a miss.  In the past that argument may have stood, but now times have changed because of the Sidewinder X8.

There is no lag.   If someone wants to argue that it’s there, let them waste their breath.  The X8 shows no discernible delay between the time I click and the action on the screen.  This is important to drill into people, because there is a real bias against wireless mice.   The mouse runs  on a 2.4 GHz transmitter, like some other devices you may have used before.

Speed is another asset of the X8.  It’s 4000 DPI matches the levels seen in the Razer Lachesis (which I raved about here).  There are three DPI buttons beneath the scroll wheel that allow you to change the speed on the fly.  I set the levels to 2000, 3000 and 4000.   Depending on what you’re doing in-game, it’s a nice feature to have.

The 4000 DPI level allows for smooth and quick movements.  Running around in Team Fortress 2, it was great to have the quickness in view rotation.  When switching to a sniper, slowing down to 3000 with a simple click provides more precise movements.  Then there’s the 2000 setting, so that I don’t have to hear my wife complain she can’t move my mouse.  There’s a little LCD in the space between your thumb and index figure that tells you what DPI level it’s at when you switch between levels.  The X8 has a 500 MHz USB reporting rate.  This is half the speed of the Razer mice I’ve reviewed, but I didn’t notice any difference in the way my games responded.

The X8 sports Microsoft’s new BlueTrack technology (oddly enough, the Sidewinder X8 is not on the BlueTrack technology page).  This is actually the first thing I raved about ony my twitter page when I got the mouse out of the box.  Absolutely nothing tracks on my living room table or end tables and tracking is difficult on my couch.  That is until I broke out the X8.  The tracking worked, and I couldn’t believe it.  It actually makes me want to replace the mouse I use for my HTPC (currently the Logitech VX Revolution) with one of the Explorer Mini Mouse.   The tracking was that good.  Good tracking leads to good gaming.

It looks like a hockey puck and hides replacement mouse feet. The charging cable wraps up nicely inside too. The Sidewinder X8 charger is great.

Another knock against wireless mice is they run out of power.  It’s true that the battery of a wireless mouse will not last forever.  There are different ways companies have tried to answer the battery dilemma.  I’ve seen charging docks, where your mouse rests any time it needs a charge.  Some mice have swappable proprietary batteries, all you need to do is eject the battery and swap in the new one.   One of the most important things in a wireless battery is how long the battery life lasts.

I can say with certainty the X8 has a nice battery life.  Microsoft claims it can play up to 30 hours on a single charge and I definitely didn’t run into any problems.  The battery is removable hidden by a clip and is a standard AA rechargable battery.  If your charge life is diminishing, all you’ve got to do is pickup a new battery from the store and keep going. There’s also a switch on the bottom of the mouse so that you can turn it off.

Running out of juice? Connect to the charging base and keep gaming.

It’s worth noting when the battery does run out in the middle of a gaming session, the Sidewinder X8 has probably the best charging setup that I’ve ever seen.  The base has a nice long cord that connects to your USB port and a cord thatwraps up neatly inside of the base.  You can see to the above, where the  additional cord is wrapped inside the base and the end hangs out just a little bit.  When your mouse is running out of power, the LCD starts flashing a battery sign but don’t be scared, you won’t have to stop gaming.  Unwrap the cord from the base and it magnetically attaches right to the mouse to start charging.  Attaching the cord is painless, you could almost just wand the mouse over it and it snatches up the charging cable.  It is simply the best setup that I’ve ever seen in a wireless mouse. It’s an elegant solution to the charging dilemma, and another reason you can tell the people who cling to their corded mice to take a hike.

The X8 comes with three sets of mouse feet.  On Microsoft’s page it says they’re made of three different types of material.  I guess my tactile senses aren’t up to snuff, because they all seemed pretty similar to me.  But when one set gets worn down, it’s definitely nice to have three pairs of feet.

There are plenty of buttons on the mouse, 12 in all with seven of  them programmable.  I wish all 12 were programmable, but I’ll get to those in a moment.

The main buttons are standard fare.  Clicks were clicky and normal.  The side buttons are different from your standard mouse layout.  The buttons are vertical, essentially a top and bottom for your thumb.  It’s natural enough though, and was comfortable to not have to move the thumb at all to press both buttons.

The ones that aren’t programmable include the three DPI buttons, the quick launch button, and the macro record button.  I really don’t change DPI settings that often, most of my time is spent at the same level.  It’d be great to re-purpose those three buttons, liberating them from their fairly limited current scope.  The quick launch button would also be nice to change.  In Vista it launches the Games Explorer, which I have never used to launch a game in the history of my using the operating system.  In XP it launches the mouse properties, a much more useful function.  You can’t set it to launch iTunes, or a specific game, it’s locked in.  You also can’t change the macro record button.  But it’s unnaturally out of my thumb’s reach, so that didn’t bother me.

I didn’t really use the macro record button, but it’s nice to know its there.  You can set it to record a combination of button presses and then assign those to a certain button.  (But again, only the programmable buttons.)

You could take umbrage with the X8’s scroll wheel, but it’s a scroll wheel so you should probably get over it.  Logitech’s smooth scrolling is still my favorite, but normal scroll wheel’s are fine in my book.  I did have a small issue with the software with scrolling speed.   If I set the scroll speed too high I wouldn’t be able to navigate mini menus and if I set it too low scrolling in Firefox and Twhirl was a chore.  Thankfully I realized I should just crank the acceleration option on the scroll giving me that subtle option for menus and the speed option for web pages.

The Sidewinder X8 is a great mouse, I can recommend it as one of the best mice I’ve ever used and definitely a wireless mouse that helps fight against the stereotype that you can’t game with a wireless mouse.  The X8 cuts the wire and keeps the performance.  It retails for $99.95 but can easily be found for less if you look.

Questions? Shoot me an email at matt(dot)schuler(at)woodtv.com or hit up the comments section.  For more, shorter updates, check out my Twitter by clicking on twitter.com/mattschuler.