Microsoft SideWinder X8 Gaming Mouse with BlueTrack Technology

The Microsoft Sidewinder X8 is a mouse suitable for anyone, not just gamers. Over the course of about 9 months of ownership so far, the mouse has proven its reliability with flying colours.

Pros
- Wireless is a non issue and latency is not noticed. The desk tends to be -packed- so a wire would be a burden
- Battery life is excellent and even more impressive for a single AA battery (NiMH 2100mAh @ 1.2V). Lasts a week or longer and flashes with a 'battery low' on the LCD / inside LED for a good while before the battery dies so you can plug it in to charge it
- Magnetic charger is superb and easy to use, have not had any problems with it being 'loose'. If you're familiar with MagSafe on Apple laptops, this is similar.
- The mouse comes with *THREE* different mouse feet in the charging spindle, which all have different friction. Most mice only come with one set of feet, so to come with three different ones is something impressive.
- The tracking is very good (I am hesitant to say perfect because that 'perfect' is used too much to mean something else) and I have not noticed any terrible tracking issues on my cloth QcK+ mouse pad.
- The two thumb buttons are very convenient and accessible, thus making them a staple in my everyday life - as a push to talk key, keybind in a game, etc.
- The on the fly three-button DPI switching is solid and works very well. You can only set these buttons via Windows but since it's saved in the hardware the buttons retain the set DPI values if you use other operating systems (e.g Linux).
- Mouse wheel still has a nice tactile feel to it after so many months of use. The mouse button also still clicks well. If you like a fast scrolling mouse, this may be a slight con (but it is not very slow, just mildly so.)

Cons
- Cannot reprogram the games button in the center, however this button would not be very useful for me even if I can (not very accessible)
- The button near the front (in front of the two thumb buttons) is not very accessible and only remembered that button was even there while writing this review
- The mouse may not fit in your hand well if you have small hands

I'm surprised that nobody else though about it before. Microsoft has done a good job this time. And forget about the: it's a gamer mouse. That's for everyone who want a wireless mouse. I did not like the form of the Sidewinders mice, but I have to admit that it's not bugging me anymore. The form has not change though. It's a wireless mouse, lighter than the others because it only use 1 rechargeable AA battery (it come with it), and still offer 30 hours of wireless work. The RF pod, or puck, because it looks like a hockey puck, have a USB connector and another little, but long enough, cable wrapped around it. That is used to charge the mouse. When you need it, you unwrap the cable and simply approach the connector near the mouse and it clips beneath it with a little magnet. Then, you can continue working, or playing while charging. It's simple, quick, and it works wonderfully. The mouse also offers a high resolution of 4000DPI, if you can use it. That's to much sensibility for me but it's easy to change it and configure the three DPI buttons to suit your needs. And you get all the clicking, scrolling and settings that you can await from today's high tech mouse. You have 5 programmable buttons (2 special actions buttons and 3 for the DPI settings). And you also have the left/right tilt (on the scrolling wheel). And you also get 3 set of skates!?! Stored in the puck. That's to suit the kind of surface you use your mouse on. I fond this Sidewinder X8 mouse an amazing product, and more overall, because of the wise rechargeable magnetic cable.

I find this the best mouse Ive used to date. The DPI swithching has turned out to be perfect for gaming. Some games you need to change on the fly and this is perfect.
My son is 5 and I set it up for 750 for ease of use.