Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Vs. X6?

Sushi Cat

Sushi Cat

Sushi Cat

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Hey all, I'm planning on buying a gaming keyboard on a budget, and the Microsoft Sidewinder range seems like a pretty good option because of it's anti-ghosting features, plenty of macro keys, and backlight. I was wondering though, should I get the X4 or the X6? I've read the X4 is much better at anti-ghosting than the X6, but the X6 has more features in general and doesn't cost much more (about £7 extra on Amazon last time I checked). I don't have much room on my desk right now, so I was wondering which keyboard would be best for me? I don't play games like MMOs, I play mostly shooters on my desktop, so I wouldn't be using the macro keys much for gaming, but I would like to use them as extra keys for hotkeying in 3ds Max.

Anyone got any ideas on which one I should get? Or is there an even better keyboard for a similar price? The main features I want are anti-ghosting across the whole keyboard (not just on the WASD area), multiple profiles, and macro keys. Backlight is a bonus, as are media controls.
 
The Sidewinder X4 was the supposed to be the first USB keyboard able to do NKRO over USB. However, while 26 simultaneous key presses was achieved, other times rather than dropping key presses the board added them.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2360040,00.asp

There's a thread on Geekhack where (allegedly) Paul Dietz from Microsoft's Applied Sciences group got talking to the guys there regarding the Sidewinder X4. He turns up on page 3 of that thread.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=9230
 
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I don't think I'll ever need to hit loads of keys at once, so I probably won't run into that issue of it adding keys. I just want anti-ghosting throughout the keyboard incase I need to set up hotkeys on sections other than around WASD. I might need this in programs such as 3ds Max, rather than gaming.

They keyboard I have right now is a really rubbish old beige keyboard that plugs into a PS/2 port. If I'm in a game that uses Shift to control air vehicles like Just Cause 2, and hold W to move forward, it can't pick up the A key so I can't move left without letting go of W, which is really annoying, so the X4 is very tempting. I just saw the X6 was only a tiny fraction more expensive, so I wondered which one I should go for.
 
TBH, most people can get away with 6 key rollover in most games and applications. And most people do since that's what the USB interface limits it to. The sidewinder was an exploration of what was possible over USB by using hardware and software to get around the USB limit.
 
I had a X6, hated the gap betwwen the arrow keys and the surrounding keys because of the removable numpad, made reaching for other keys hard to do.
 
Same as stulid above, also the media keys were very fussy on the x6 and i hit the nrollover limit often playing games, ie jump crouching through a window and trying to reload/grenade wouldnt work.
 
Supposedly the X4 has a higher nrollover limit than the X6, which is why I couldn't decide which one to get. I think I'm probably going to order an X4, it has less features overall but seems to be a better build. I never use the arrow keys except for the rare indie game that uses them, and the media keys I'll probably ignore as I have winamp's controls set to hotkeys.
 
I bought the x4 for a friend a few weeks back from here on today only. Keyboard is fine and he is loving it. The one thing to note is the x4 keys & spacing are smaller than standard keyboard keys. So big fingers may be a problem.
 
Anti-ghosting in X6 is a myth - maybe it works somewhere else, but definately NOT in the Race Driver GRID which is my favourite game.
Keys combination: CRSR UP + End + CRSR LEFT simply doesn't work for CRSR LEFT, but all "el-cheapo" keyboards do it fine (!?). Sometimes CRSR UP + CRSR DOWN + CRSR LEFT/RIGHT do the same. So it's one thing that dissapointed me personally. Second one - paint from some keys moves out too quickly.
Otherwise - X6 is a good keybo.
 
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