Usage

The SideWinder Mouse has the ability to move at 2000 dpi and crawl at 200 dpi. The mouse comes with easy to use on the fly buttons to switch from a fast cursor for gaming to more precision for desktop work and editing. You can tweak the dpi settings in the Sensitivity tab in the SideWinder's Mouse Properties. There are six separate dpi settings (200, 400, 800, 1000, 1600, 2000), though we'd prefer more dpi options. There were very little signs of any jumpiness when using the mouse, which is a good sign.

While many other Microsoft mice have been designed to work with both left and right hands, the SideWinder is clearly made for those who are right handed. It fits your hand well but it certainly isn’t a perfect fit, but those who have smaller hands or prefer small mice will want to choose a different mouse altogether as it is very bulky.

The Sidewinder has five programmable buttons although there are other buttons on the mouse apart from these five that can’t be changed. The limitation can be annoying for users who record macros for their games. The vertical thumb buttons take a bit of getting used to.

As mentioned earlier, on the mouse you have an LCD -  DPI settings and macro recording icons are displayed on the mouse to reduce on-screen interference when playing games, though you still have to look down anyway so it's only of slight use.  Another feature is that you can select your preference of mouse weight with the included 4 weights, giving you the choice to adjust your mouse weight anywhere between 5 and 30 grams in 5 gram increments, for those who want the most perfect movement suited to their style it works very well. Also, you can change your mouse feet to a variety of materials to change performance.

There are improvements with this mouse though; the Sidewinder scroll wheel is a lot wider and it has a good tactile feedback when middle clicking. Gamers also won’ have to worry about accidentally pressing the wheel either as it is very sturdy. Also another good feature is that Microsoft has added Macro functions to the SideWinder. I’ve been able to record and run macros and they all worked perfectly. Once again the IntelliPoint software is what runs the SideWinder mouse, it works perfectly well and has a small footprint when it is up and running, it also has the Macro Editor built into it.

Final Comments

Overall the Microsoft SideWinder mouse is pretty good, its up there with the other top gaming mice such as the Logitech G9, the main problem I have is that it doesn’t work too well in small hands, its just a bit too much. Having to over-reach for the thumb buttons or the side scroll wheels doesn’t make it a comfortable mouse.  Put the mouse into larger hands though and there are no problems what so ever with the ergonomics.

The SideWinder also has loads of great features for a gaming mouse such as the 2000 dpi laser, the Macro editor, side buttons, weight control and the LCD, but I would like to have seen more programmable buttons on here as well as more dpi modes available.