Customer Reviews

My First Lab My First Lab Microscope

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am a chemistry professor and I was sceptical that a microscope for under $100 could be any good at all since I had several of them when I was a kid that were marginal at best. Often buying a kid a microscope or telescope that is marginal can result in turning them off rather than sparking their interest, I have and use microscopes in my lab that cost from $1000 to $10000 and so I know what a good optical system looks like. This little microscope was an amazing value. There is not much plastic and the optical quality is quite acceptable. The built in light works very well. How they can make a microscope this good for under $100 is amazing to me since you couldn't even buy one objective for most instruments they sell to labs for this price. I strongly urge anyone to not spend less than this on a microscope and go for this one! The only small criticism is that they could have had a few more slides in the box or some diatomaceous earth to keep the kids busy until summer when we can collect pond water etc.

After testing a cheaper "kid's" microscope for my nephew, we ended up returning that one to purchase this one. My husband, a biology teacher, likes the design and features on this model. We also purchased a slide preparation kit from a science supply company, however the 5 prepared slides included with the scope were enough to get us started. From our own experience, we agree with the chemistry teacher - buying a cheaper scope (which claimed to have higher magnification)would have only led to frustration for the child when he attempted to view the slides. Everything on this scope was clear. This was a good value for the money.

After pouring over dozens of microscopes to possibly buy our 8-year-old daughter for Christmas, we found this one with the few, but good, reviews on Amazon. We were not disappointed. I know nothing about chemistry and have never used a microscope. We had this out of the box and running smoothly within 10 minutes. The instructions are very simple and the quality is exceptional. I have heard that poor quality plastic microscopes often dissuade children from pursuing science because they are so frustrating and disappointing. This one is great. It comes with five slides that show up really well. They are fascinating to look at and we spent all day gathering other items to look at. Our daughter likes science even more, and now she's anxious to take the microscope to class to show her friends. She's used it many times since Christmas and hasn't grown tired of it. I think she'll enjoy it even more when summer arrives. Some of the slides, such as frog's blood or mosquito head parts, sound gross, but they actually are unexpectedly pretty and colorful. Although it is supposed to be for children age 11 and up, our 8-year-old had no problems with it. The microscope is sturdy, nonfussy, and should hold up fine with any older child that wouldn't knock it off a table. I have never rated a toy higher than this one. Highly recommended!

This microscope was a great fit for our small private school; we bought 2 of them and they leave our former econo-models in the dust. The microscope is sturdy and well built and has weight to it so it's not sliding around. While there aren't separate "coarse and fine" adjustment knobs, the adjustments are sensitive enough to easily focus as needed. It comes with 5 premade slides and a dust cover. Only thing I'd add would be some basic cleaning (lens) paper and a catalog for replacements or accessories; for example, light bulbs.
But for high school Biology, we couldn't be happier with our "find". Try finding a decent microscope that's more than $20-30, but less than $150! This one fills the gap nicely.

This was purchased for my son's 13th birthday. I had looked at microscopes in the $25-50 range, figuring it would get beat up quickly, so why spend very much. A store had one of those cheaper ones set up, and I was very disappointed in the brightness and distortion at the edges, and it felt cheap. So, I jumped up another notch and purchased the My First Lab microscope for 90 bucks. For about twice the price, this thing is 100 times better! It is very bright and completely free of distortion. The eyepiece is easy to look into with a wide field (compared to some where it was impossible to hold your head still enough to peep through). We've looked a all sorts of things, but the most fun is to put a few leaves and a sprinkle of dirt into some water, let it sit a few days, and then look at a drop under the scope. Little critters swimming everywhere! My kids can't get enough of it.

My 10 and 8 year old daughters have no trouble operating this durable, easy to use microscope. And the magnification is excellent!! They are forever looking at whatever they can find in the house, from ladybugs to onion skins. It uses a light bulb instead of a mirror, and even at 400X it is very clear. I was worried about the amount of cash I was spending on what was to be just an educational "toy", but was NOT disappointed! This will be useful for a very long time.

This is a very good way of giving your kids a direction towards learning. My kids are 5 yrs and 8 yrs old. They loved the microscope. I also brought prepared slides on Amazon. Now almost every saturday/ Sunday me an my kids see the micro world. We have a drawing-board on which I draw a rough diagram of what we see. We also brought plain glass slides and plastic cover slips from a local store. We routinely dissect plants/ leaves etc. My kids bring back dead insects and we watch their wings, legs (My kids first thought it creepy but started enjoying the unseen)

I recommend this product

I got a plastic microscope for (...), (...), and it was a piece of junk. It was all plastic and didn't work properly. We returned that one, and saw this one on Amazon with all of the great reviews, and decided to get it.
It has very nice picture quality and is all metal. It isn't all that expensive either considering the quality it is. The only downer is that it doesn't have blank slides. It does have some very nice prepared slides though.

When I recieved this telescope for my Birthday, I was very excited!!!! When I began to use it, I wasn't disapointed at all!!
This so called "toy" I very good for education and fun, it is also very durable.
Before I recieved this I got a cheap one from the "Toys R' Us". It claimed to be very high magnified, and to work well.
I tried it and was very disapointed, there was no metal and when you changed the slide, it didn't change the picture!!
I immediately returned it.
This microscope has worked perfectly. It has perfect focus, and some cool prepared slides. If you are looking for a fun, educational, affordable Microscope, This is for you. On this microscope, there is a ton of magnification and there is almost no plastic!!!
It is perfect for anyone 10+.

I bought this scope for my granddaughter's Christmas present, and it is impressively built. Unfortunately, right out of the box, the head was loose, (but was fixed by tightening the three deeply recessed set screws with a jeweler's screw driver, even thought at first glance it appeared they were missing.), and to make matters worse, the bulb had blown during a factory test, and not replaced. So, if you are planning on buying one of these, get a spare bulb, which has no part number on it, so I am giving it to you here, and write it down,...15T7/CL/DC. Shop wisely, because these bulbs will range anywhere from $1.50 to $10.00. The microscope was excellent otherwise, and had high quality optics, and great "seeing". The light source is excellent, and is the best I have seen in an affordable microscope. It made me want to buy one for myself! This is definitely the one to buy if you want an affordable microscope, and I would recommend you spend the extra $40.00 or so over the cheaper ones to upgrade to this one.