Digital Trends

We were surprised how much we liked Microsoft’s wireless SideWinder X8 gaming mouse, but let’s face it: $100 is a lot of dough to drop on a rodent. So we’re happy to report that the wired SideWinder X3—which costs less than half as much as it fancier cousin—is nearly as good.

Besides being wired—which isn’t a big drawback in our book, considering that wireless devices have batteries that always seem to need charging—the X3 lacks many of the X8’s chichi features. The X3 relies on an ordinary laser for instance, where the X8 boasts Microsoft’s BlueTrack technology, and while it does feature on-the-fly resolution switching, it lacks the fancy display that informs you of its current setting.