#Microsoft sidewinder mouse software software#
However, the mouse isn’t exactly the most comfortable to use and the Intellipoint software hinges on being needlessly elaborate. The mouse even performs quite well and I tested it across a number of games in the week I had it on my desk, including the awesome Team Fortress 2. On top of this it adds a load of features which range from pseudo-useful to the downright annoying, such as the weight system and Game Explorer button. Technically the Sidewinder is a good mouse and on paper it has all the features one might look for – on the fly DPI, thumb buttons and an ergonomic design which isn’t entirely uncomfortable to use. It’s not difficult to score because I’ve already decided I’m going to give it a 6/10, but it’s difficult to explain why I’m giving it that score. I can’t really fault Microsoft for this though, as no other mouse I’m aware of has this feature either.ĬonclusionsThe Microsoft Sidewinder Mouse is a tough cookie to settle on score wise – well, that’s actually a slight lie. For a long time I’ve thought it would be a great thing if mice had an alterable mouse wheel resistance, as wheels tend to loosen over time and it’s often hard to find a mouse which feels just right. My only other complaint about the Sidewinder is that the mouse wheel felt a little loose to me and there was no way to alter the resistance. The macro facility is going to be best suited to online games in my opinion, which is fair does, but most online games tend to have strict rules and guidelines on macros so you might want to think carefully about whether or not to use this extra feature. Sure, you can set it so you automatically jump left, duck, jump again, throw a grenade and furiously backpedal – but there’s not many instances in most games where you want to unleash identical strings like that. I tried out the macro button but my experience taught me only that games nowadays let you rebind controls as you see fit anyway so, unless you have complex strings of spells you want to unleash or a specific set of things you want to keep re-buying in Counter-Strike, the macro button will be mostly useless. My new highscore (left) and the Intellipoint software (right), click to enlarge The testing was finally starting to look up for the Sidewinder! I love how Tim pays me for this kind of thing.Īfter I was familiar with the mouse I jumped straight into a game and, what do you know, I set a new high score on my first run. Of course, it takes a while to get used to a new mouse, so I played a few rounds to get warmed up and spent a while surfing the forums.
I have to confess though that the sensitivity was the only option which I could tell made a tangible difference and the weight/feet options will only really affect people who are so limp wristed they can’t possibly move a mouse so heavy. Once I’d set the mouse up the way I wanted it, with 30g of extra weight, the white low-teflon feet and a sensitivity range of 1200, 14, I jumped in an started playing.
My first port of call for testing any input device is the Arena mode in SiN: Episodes, which gives a simple FPS experience with escalating difficulty. Well, that and it gives us a great excuse to play games during office time. Testing, Testing? A mouse can have all the features in the world but if it doesn’t actually work well in a game then it’s going to be a wasted effort, which is why we take great pride in testing the mice we review quite rigorously.
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