Microsoft X8 Sidewinder Gaming Mouse
Microsoft has added another mouse to its Sidewinder line up, with the Microsoft X8 Sidewinder Gaming Mouse.
Unlike most gaming mice, this new one is wireless, which don’t tend to be popular for gaming, but according to Microsoft the Sidewinder X8 offers ‘wired performance with a 2.4 GHz wireless connection that is built for lag free play’.
Other specs include a 4,000 dpi, and it uses BlueTrack laser technology which means it will work on virtually any surface.
The Sidewinder X8 is reported to have a battery life of 30 hours before it needs charging, and it will go on sale in February 2009 for about $100.
via Coolest Gadgets
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September 15th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
It’s wireless so for this reason alone will never be considered for real gamers. Microsoft needs to learn the basics before they try to make something like this. IMO they should continue to license Razer products. Or maybe buy Razer out, I think that’s more the microsoft way!
October 20th, 2008 at 3:21 am
Vinas:
Or maybe you could actually try it before you dismiss it?
I’m always amazed at posters who trash or tout a product without even owning it or trying it.
Your comment is completely useless.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Wireless and gaming do not belong in the same sentence.. all the other specs seem great.. a question though, when it is charging is it running through usb or is it still wireless? If it were to be wired while charging then would be great, while gaming plug it in, while not plugged in good for everything else. John do you play games? I do and to me your post is worthless.
December 19th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Hi FDM
I think it is plugged in when it is charging.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:41 am
To Vinas and FDM TMI – You really don’t know the nature of this product and don’t have a clue what you are talking about otherwise you wouldn’t post such worthless and clearly uninformed comments about wireless and gaming not going hand in hand!
This used to be the case with older radio technology products and laggy receivers of old which were interfered with by mobile phones, other wireless technology around the home such as keyboards, speakers, desktop solutions etc.
Now the technology Microsoft is using avoids channels of communication between mouse and receiver that have interference and every time the mouse is polled the product finds a nice clean radio channel to work on.
As radio is light speed, just like wired, there is no lag involved and as this product uses a polling rate of 1000dpi that Razer introduced with their wired Lachesis 4000dpi mouse (which I own and use regularly) then there is no input latency either.
If you are stupid enough to place a tranceiving radio device near the mouse receiver then you are more of a fool than your comments here make you out to be. You should never place any tranceiving radio device within 4 feet of any other radio tranceiving device. If you have a mobile phone (“cell” phone for Americans) or anything like that, keep it away from your computer, your speaker system, your amplifier and your home theatre system etc. The same goes for any other similar device.
I have used and reviewed a working production sample of the X8 mouse and it in every way mimics the responsiveness and clean movement of Razer’s best wired offering, the Lachesis.
So as the other comment says, keep your useless opinions to yourself before posting such crap that misleads people. You are not of authority regarding any kind of comment on a product you have never even used.
I feel next you are going to tell us you have been to Neptune ? Move on, get off this review, go troll somewhere else.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Correction from last post… The X8 does not use a polling rate of 1000dpi, it uses a polling rate of 1000Hz (simple mental mistake at 7:45 in the morning without going to bed! LOL).
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:22 am
I am a gamer too.DODs and having my own Clan. I used to play with G7 which happened to be a Logitech wireless mouse, but it was a good game device, no question. Week ago I switched to X5 but it didn’t work for me. The grip is to long and it didn’t let me to set up any sensitives so I will return it. I see this X8 and I will give Microsoft another chance to earn my attention. If this X8 won’t be good then I will go back to Logitech and its G9. I agree with previous post that you shouldn’t flush down a product that you have no idea about it. It is like those who hate Vista, the best OS so far.(Now I test Windows 7, it is nice too) thank you for your attention.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
T-K,
Ugh, here you are dissing someone else about misinformed information yet you say radio is light speed? Since when did radio waves, which is frequencies, which is sound, turn into light? Wired is light speed yes because through that wire runs electrons, or electricity. The basic physics of sound vs light is the reason why wireless will never have the response of wired (think lightning vs thunder). Then you have to think about radio frequency distortion. Though wireless can be improved via technology to the point that normal humans wouldn’t be able to feel the difference, which I think we are close to or at that point.
April 18th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I currently use a logitech G7 and am thinking of getting a microsoft X8 and I like the wireless. My desk is such a clutter that any wired mouse will always snag causing my mouse to stop moving when my hand goes on (in other words, I lose my mouse).
@ Ricey, please read a physicsbook or do research before complaining about other ppl. Radiowaves are nothing like audiowaves but have, in fact, more in common with light (which has both the properties of particles and waves). Radiowaves are a fluctuation in an electric field, whereas sound waves are a fluctionation of pressure (example. the increasing and decreasing of the pressure of air, hence the conus on a speaker). for more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_waves . Just to finish the point: sound does NOT travel in a vacuum (outer space) radio waves DO.
In respect to the “lag” of wireless vs. wired: that will be less than a millisecond, and with an average ping of 20-50 ms in online-gaming, it’s not going to influence play in my view.
April 25th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
You won’t notice any difference in cursor movement between wireless and wired mice. I’ve been using Logitech MX1000 (wireless) mouse for gaming for several years without a single movement problem. I don’t think anyone should hate wireless mice because of their notorious past.
May 30th, 2009 at 3:09 am
I know this article is old, but I wanted to give some input from an X8 user, and also laugh at Ricey (the guy who thinks radio waves are sound..)
I have noticed some interference between my mouse and other devices (specifically cordless and cell phones). If I put a cell or cordless phone receiver on my desk I experience intermittent episodes where I get no response from moving the mouse. If I put both phones on my desk it can be unplayable.
Also, energy doesn’t flow through wired connections at light speed, it’s actually near instantaneous. At nearly the instant an electrical circuit is connected the entire circuit becomes “powered”, no matter how big it is. This energy that exists in all parts of a circuit at once is not technically moving however, it has no velocity, it’s just energy.
For an example; let’s say you had an electrical cord that stretched from Mars to New York City with a light bulb on the Mars end. When you plugged the cord into an outlet in New York the bulb on Mars would light up almost instantly.
Anyway, it’s impossible for anything with mass to travel at the speed of light. Electrons have mass, so they can’t travel at the speed of light. Most basically, electricity (as described in this post) has the ability to be in an infinite amount of places at the same time, as long as all of those places are connected in a circuit.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Ricey,
There is no need to attack T-K, especially seen as his post is the most valuable here out of all of them. Also his comment was “light speed”, reffering more to the fact that it appears to be instantaneous, unnoticeable by us. I highly doubt that he meant it in any literal term, the literal term more correctly being, “the speed of light”.
Also I am currently considering the MS X8, and wondering if it really would be a good buy. What is the macro userability like? Does the blue track perform exceptionally well? Are the buttons placed very well and does the mouse have a very good feel to it? How long does the battery last before it needs charging? What is the reliability of the mouse as well?
August 20th, 2009 at 11:07 am
On a side note, I have read some reviews that the mouse can perform “wheelies”, ie: the back underside of the mouse is raised, and so applying pressure apparently causes the mouse to lift the front up.
Is it as serious as it sounds? Or rather some one trying to make an issue out of nothing?
November 1st, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Ricey,
Radio waves DO travel at the speed of light. Light waves also have a frequency. Both radio waves and light waves are on the electromagnetic spectrum (EM waves), and both travel at exactly the same speed when passing through the same material; the speed of ‘light’.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Well,
I agree that we should give it a try, but it is hard to spend 100 USD and not liking it at the end.
I dunno if the USB connection also works as alternative to the Wireless, cause extreme response is needed specially in FPS.
If anyone has already tested it please advice on the wireless response.
Thanks!!!