Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsMicroscope is great, the digital side needs a bit of work.
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2013
Being the type of person who enjoys different things at different times, I purchased this microscope so I could look at the world that I cannot see. I had an old USB microscope which was like 30 bucks and it did not look good even at 40x. This microscope is AWESOME to say the least. This microscope compares to the ones used at the local schools and one of the hospital labs in my area. The image is clean and detailed and lets me look at everything perfectly.
The only complaint I have, and it is not with the microscope itself, it is with the digital imager, is the low resolution. Once I installed the software from the disc and attached the camera, the computer recognized it right away and I was up and running within 5 minutes, most of the time was to install the software. The camera is only 640x480 so do not expect high quality images with it. Using it with the microscope at 40x, the picture is clear and I love it. Once you go to 250x, the image gets blurry because the camera cannot pick up the detail the microscope shows at this level and at 400X FORGET IT! I feel a 1.3MP or even a 2MP camera would be much better for the magnification that this microscope can achieve. I understand the cost would be more, but it would also be worth every penny.
I have no tried the 25x optic since the 10x shows me what I need and want to look at right now.
PROS:
High Magnification
Excellent Clarity
Easy to use
LED runs off batteries or AC power. I like the battery option so I can take it with me and make slides on the fly while out and about looking at things.
CONS:
USB Camera quality sucks for anything higher than 40x magnification. The microscope quality is what I was concerned about so no star reduction because of the Camera. It is nice to have for low magnification images to share with friends online.
Has pointer built into objective lens and that irritates me but is handy when trying to point something out to another person. If there was an option to get rid of it, I would love it. I am not going to knock off stars because this is just a peeve for me.
Conclusion:
If you are going to buy this to use with a computer most of the time and want to use high magnification, skip this and go for one with a higher resolution camera.
If you are going to use this with kids or the occasional digital image, this is more than enough for any household use and I would recommend it to anyone. I have already had three of my friends by this microscope for their kids and they are loving it. Kids do not care about the quality of the camera so that is a plus for it.
I would certainly buy this microscope again but I would skip this exact one with the camera and get the one without it since I am not going to be using it often enough.
