Microsoft Sidewinder X3 review

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Verdict:

A decent replacement mouse for use on the desktop, but it's gaming features are rather lacklustre. There are many better gaming mice.

Review Date: 17 Jan 2010

Price when reviewed: £21

Buy it now for: £22
(see more store prices)

Supplier: http://www.cclonline.com

Reviewed By: Will Stapley

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

User Rating

Microsoft's Sidewinder X3 is one of the few gaming mice with a symmetrical design that's suited to both left- and right-handed people.

The left and right buttons are responsive, and there are two further buttons on either side of the mouse, which are used as forward and back in a web browser. For gaming, they're a little too far up the chassis to be useful.

We found the scroll-wheel was a little too free-moving, which often resulted in us cycling past the weapon we wanted to select when playing first-person shooters.

Three buttons complete with LEDs sit just below the scroll wheel and allow for quick adjustment of the mouse's sensitivity; these are customisable using the included IntelliPoint software and each one can be set between 200dpi and 2000dpi. It makes it easy to select the right sensitivity for the right game.

At just £21 the Microsoft X3 is good value, but its symmetric design isn't as comfortable for right-handed people as other gaming mice, and the side buttons aren't so easy to reach.

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