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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Instrument for the money!, February 2, 2008
This review is from: My First Lab Ultimate Digital Microscope (Toy)
I have now owned and used this microscope for several weeks. I got my money's worth and am very satisfied.
The supplier, SHOPZUES promptly shipped out my order ahead of schedule and I received it well packaged and way ahead of the schedule date that was given at order time.
The microscope has a sturdy metal frame and seems to be well built. The optics are easy to focus with the main knob even though this scope does not come with a secondary fine focus knob as the more expensive scopes do.
The image is clear from center to edge. The eyepiece has good relief.
The choice of lighting is excellent with the LED illumination. A dial on the side of the base adjust the intensity from a soft light up to super bright. The on/off button is easy accessible at the back of the base.
Good points about the LED is that it does not create excessive heat that can damage your specimen, and has very low battery drain. LEDs are known for long life.
Using the plugin adapter(included), the built-in battery is quickly recharged. The light can be used while the battery is charged. Once charged a green led indicator will light up. Unplug the adapter and use the scope anywhere without the battery going dead for a long time.
The CD provided is not for the scope. It is for the 'Premier MA88' Microscope Digital Camera that is included with this product. Just slip out the regular eyepiece and slide in the camera lens. Plugs into a USB socket in the computer.
The camera produces a low resolution image much as a typical web cam does. The focus on the microscope is used to focus in the camera image. With the camera, you can view the specimen live on the computer screen and save the image to file.
After testing out the camera, I found the images it produces loses quite a bit of detail. I now found that I can use my hand held digital 2 mega pixel camera with zoom, held up to the scope eyepiece, to take a much nicer and detailed images. If I would have known that that before, I would have tried to find this microscope with the exact same features except without camera, at a cheaper price.
Included is an instruction manual for the camera. It says this camera is compatible with windows 98se, 2000, & XP. Has step by step illustrated instructions for installing the camera and driver files.
The CD contains the camera driver, and Ulead Photo Explorer 8.0se Basic. My windows XP failed to recognize the driver probably because I did not follow the instructions and did not plug the camera into the USB port at the right time. My second attempt at driver installation was successful.
I had some difficulty installing the Ulead program again because I neglected to read the readme instructions that are on the CD. Once the driver is installed, you can use the Ulead program to view and save your digital scope images, or can use the Scanner and Camera Wizard in Windows XP. The Ulead program has more choices and features than the Wizard.
Most all problems associated with the CD, software installations and use is because most people(including me) have very little patience when it comes to reading and following the simple instructions.
Overall I find the camera, CD, program and instructions a good packaged deal.
This product is good for home and business labs, teachers, students and serious youngsters that want to learn. Only way to beat it is to pay much more for a high tech professional microscope.
CONS:
1. The 40x lens sometimes touches down on the slip cover when trying to focus in. This can get the bottom of the 40x lens dirty and can crack a glass slip cover. This problems is common of cheaper scopes but is nothing to cry about.
2. I would have downrated my rating of this combination product if I could to either a 3 or 4 because of the poor detail of the camera images. The microscope itself deserves top rating, good price even if the camera was not included.
If you treat this scope like a fine instrument it will perform as such and last a long time. If it is given to someone to treat like a toy then it will have a limited lifetime as it is not indestructable.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for learning, August 15, 2007
This review is from: My First Lab Ultimate Digital Microscope (Toy)
The quality is excellent. At 400x you can distinguish the shape of blood cells. I really didnt expect it. I highly recomend it. The PC camera is not the better quality but trust me, is good enough. If you are looking for a Microscope for your children (even for you), i think you can enjoy this one.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Might be great, November 2, 2008
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars
I tried loading the software on my PC to use the Microscope USB so my class could see what was under the microscope. I've had nothing but problems. When I emailed the software company they said they couldn't give me support because they don't support their software when it is packaged with an outside vendor's product. To date I have a $155 microscope I still can't use with my class because the software won't let me uninstall and even try to reinstall. What a drag. If someone would help me solve this problem I would surely change this review!
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by Alvin Silverstein
