Out of the box you get a relatively simple package. Consisting of the Sidewinder mouse and a weighted box containing extra skid pads as well as some weights for making fine adjustments to the mouse's handling. The box doubles as an anchor for the mouse cable. This helps prevent the cable from becoming tangled with other objects on your desk. Oddly enough there is no software with the mouse. Just an instruction manual which illustrates just how to connect the USB mouse to the computer( as if we still needed help with this) in order to enable the special features of the mouse, like it’s on the fly macro recording, you need to download the latest Intellipoint software from Microsoft. Not that big a deal, but it would still be nice to get a CD with a 70.00 dollar mouse.
The weight system on this mouse is an interesting one; other gaming mice that use a weight system generally use eight or more smaller weights. Microsoft gets away with four weights, three ten gram weights and one five gram. This lets you go from five to thirty grams in five gram increments. The weight clip slides into the side of the mouse. This would be a convenient location if it had some sort of eject mechanism. Unfortunately it seems Microsoft didn't think too far on this one as the mouse has to been turn upside down to access the eject button and even then it's requires a bit of shake to actually get the rail to come out. It would have been better if it was spring loaded.
Moving on to the buttons we find the mouse has a total of five standard buttons, a macro button, three resolution buttons and a hotkey that will automatically launch your games browser in vista. When you adjust the resolution of the mouse the number is displayed on a tiny LCD screen. This is more of a gimmick than anything else, but none the less worth a mention.
On to the last part, the bottom of the mouse, this not generally an area you worry about on a mouse. If it lights up its working. However in the case of the Sidewinder Mouse you have some extra options here. Included with the mouse are three sets of skid pads. These pads provided varying degrees resistance to surface gliding. This allows you to customize the amount of resistance you feel when you move the mouse from side to side.
