Review: Microsoft Sidewinder x6 Keyboard

By minime

Intro

Microsoft have had a line of Sidewinder gaming equipment a long time ago. They have recently started it back up with gaming mice,

that were not bad (the normal sidewinder, x5 and x8). Microsoft has recently brought out the x6 which is a gaming keyboard.

I payed $100 (singapore dollars)



The keyboard only has the number pad and drivers software that comes with it.

The keys on the x6 are very nice to use because they are shallow. they do not come with non slip rubber keys (which is annoying to some people)

The key layout is different than normal keyboards because of the space bar being longer the alt key is more towards and Z key. Also the escape

key is not above the ` key which means that you will frequently hit the f1 key instead of the escape which is slightly frustrating. To the left of the

keyboard there are 6 macro keys (not on the num pad) which have 2 banks so there are 12 macro keys on the left. Also the keys are smaller than

normal keys so when i reached for the control key i hit the s6 macro key. Also the keyboard doesn't have stands so you can't adjust the height.

After a while you will get used to the layout of the keyboard.

Along the top row from left to right is the open application key (in vista it opens games, in xp it opens the software and doesn't work in 7 ),

the cruise control (allows you to continue pressing down a key without actually pressing it), the macro record key (like the g15 which allows you

to record macros in-game), the bank keys (like the g15 different macro banks that allows you to have different macros in each of them), the

play/pause, back, forward and mute buttons. The two knobs on the top right of the keyboard is for back lighting and volume. But generally

a very comfortable keyboard and you can type fast on it because of the quick key travel.



The back lighting on this keyboard is OK. In bank 1 the entire keyboard (except for the macro keys on the left) is red, in bank 2 and 3 the

numeric pad is like a light orange colour. The light in between the keys is very good and is even throughout, But the lighting on the keys itself

is bit lacking and very dim.

This brings me too much next point of the number pad. It is removable and is able to be attached to both sides of the keyboard. There are many

reasons for this. 1. it to make the keyboard short so if you have a small desk you can fit it on still. 2. to add it too the left for easy access to macros.



The number pad in bank 2 and 3 can be used for macros. Which you can set up in the software. The macros are just like the

macros in the g15.

The software is very bland and quite frankly not that good (not as easy to program as the g15)



i didn't particularly use the macros a lot (i usually play fps games which don't need macros). I used them for opening up applications

like safari, itunes and steam. I also used it for opening the overlay in steam games.

I found the keyboard very good after you got used to it for a couple days. I think that if you need a good keyboard in the medium price

range this is an excellent product. But if you had a bigger budget it would be better to get the logitech g15, g11, tarantula.

pros
good for price
good for people with small desks
nice backlight in between the keys
knobs for volume and backlight brightness
macro record button
cruise control button

cons
different key layout
dim blacklight in the keys
bad software
not up to par with keyboards like the g15

scores
ease of use - 6
price - 9
features - 9
looks - 8
performance - 9

overall 8/10