Microsoft Sidewinde X6 Gaming Keyboard
Back in the days when joysticks really mattered to all PC gamers, Microsoft came into the gaming peripherals market with a new brand, SideWinder, and quickly dominated the space. They weren’t the best joysticks, but they were pretty good, aggressively priced, and easy to find. As joysticks and gamepads fell out of favor in PC gaming, the SideWinder brand faded, until Microsoft finally killed it off five years ago.
Late last year, someone at Microsoft had a good idea. If it’s all about the mouse and keyboard, why not produce mice and keyboards with the SideWinder brand? Enter the SideWinder Mouse, followed up this year by the updated SideWinder X5.
SideWinder X6 Keyboard
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Now, finally, Microsoft completes the duo with its SideWinder X6 Keyboard. From the company that probably sells more keyboards than anyone else comes their first keyboard designed specifically for gaming (the Reclusa was a joint venture primarily designed and built by Razer). This new sidewinder offers some interesting features, including nice big knobs to control the key backlighting and volume and the novel ability to detach the numeric keypad and hook it on to the left side of the keyboard. A few new features aren’t enough to earn high marks from us, though—you’ve got to get the basics right, too. Does the SideWinder X6 measure up?
A Visual Tour
The first and most obvious feature of the X6 is the ability to simply pop the number pad off the right and snap it on the left. What’s the point? Well, it’s certainly helpful for left-handed people that may want to do some quick calculating and feel more comfortable with the pad over there, or for those that want to use the number pad for movement in a first-person shooter or to select hotkeys in a strategy game or RPG (Role Playing Game). But the real point is to use all those number keys as recorded macro keys, when in the keyboard is set to the 2nd or 3rd macro bank (more on that in a minute).
Number pad on the left
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Of course, the ability to remove the number pad gives you the nice option of simply having a shorter keyboard, if you’re the type that doesn’t use the number pad and couldn’t care less. Good for those crowded tables at LAN parties or dorm rooms.
Number pad-less
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Taking a look along the top edge of the keyboard we find all the special function keys. First is the quick launch button, which opens the game explorer in Vista or the IntelliType software in Windows XP. Next is the cruise control button: press it along with up to four other keys and let go, and the keyboard will act like you’re holding those keys down. The macro record button, mode switching button, and media keys finish up the top row.
Top Edge
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You can’t miss the two giant knobs on the upper right edge, though. They really give the keyboard a very “Star Wars Imperials” sort of look, but they’re quite useful. The left knob controls the level of key backlighting. It sounds superfluous, but it turned out to be one of my personal favorite features—it turns out we don’t hate glowing keyboards, we just hate the amount of glow, and this knob lets us dial in to a very subtle glow that we find really attractive. The right knob controls volume, and we can’t say this enough: When it comes to volume control, knobs are good, buttons are bad.
Nice, With a Few Quirks
The SideWinder X6 is a very good gaming keyboard overall, and the ability to move the number pad to the left and set it up as a bunch of macro keys is perfect for macro-holics. The big knobs for backlighting control and volume are great. The keys have a nice “springy” feel with good bounce back, and nice big Shift, Backspace, and Enter buttons make basic typing easy.
Glowing
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There are a few gotchas, though. The spacebar is slightly longer than with many keyboards; most spacebars end around the “C” key, while this one goes halfway into the “X”. It makes it easier to strike when you have your hand over the W-A-S-D and want to jump, but hitting the left Alt key will take some getting used to. There’s no headphone jack or USB hub, if you care about those things. There’s also no PS2 keyboard plug—it’s USB only, though that’s not much of a problem in this day and age.
Our biggest gripe is the lack of “feet” on the underside to tilt the keyboard upward. Yes, we know it’s technically better for your hands to have the keyboard laying more flat than having the back edge raised, but that’s the way some people like to type. Microsoft told us the feet are missing due to cost (give us a break—this isn’t a $15 keyboard) and the technical challenges of having the swappable number pad remain secure. That’s the kind of engineering challenge we would expect Microsoft to have solved in an $80 keyboard.
All things considered, it’s a very good gaming keyboard for the price. It’s has a very good feel, great macro functions, a good key layout, and the nifty swappable number pad all for a reasonable $80. We’ve seen $100+ gaming keyboards that offered less. At the same time, products like Logitech’s G15 with its programmable LCD screen, while more expensive, may have even more utility for gamers. Microsoft has a winner here, but it’s not without room for improvement.
