USB Digital Microscope - up to 200x Magnification (White)

by Generic

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• ASIN: B000VCNB3A
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,800 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products)
  • #70 in Office Products > Educational Supplies > Classroom Science Supplies > Microscopes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 9, 2007

Product Description

This USB Digital Microscope allows you to capture some incredibly high quality images and video and display them on your PC using a simple USB connection. View specimens collected around the house, backyard, your desk, or the fridge. Look at the micro-printing on a dollar bill or examine the traces on your motherboard. This USB Digital Microscope provides you an easy way to zoom in (up to 200x!) on a wide variety of objects to satisfy your curiosity of the world around you. Ever wondered what lint looks like or the mold growing on your week-old bagels? Now you can find out!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars USB Digital Microscope works with Mac & is worth the price, January 19, 2009

By 

W. McKelvy (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: USB Digital Microscope - up to 200x Magnification (White) (Office Product)

This product is available in several different forms from Amazon, marked with several different brand names, and even with wildly different prices. The major questions I had prior to purchase were 1. Would it work with a Macintosh. 2. Was it a usable device or just a toy... or worse junk, and 3. Were there any important differences between the various available versions, whose photos all look identical.
I can't answer the last question since we only bought 2 of this single type, but regarding the Junk or Toy versus Useful Device question, yes this is a working magnifier well above the category of junk or toy. To be sure, it's not perfect, with an image that flickers and other lessor issues, but it seems to be solidly manufactured and provides truly amazing capabilities and images.
As to the other question concerning its compatibility with the Mac, in short the answer, after several anxious moments, is yes. The package contains a CD with PC only software... the dangerous kind of mini-CD that should NEVER be inserted into a slot loading optical drive, so I can't comment on the software. Likewise, the accompanying instruction pamphlet includes zero mention of the Mac. The matter might have ended there except that I noted promisingly that the instructions specifically say the USB microscope should work on PC's without the benefit of any of the drivers or software. Taking that as a positive sign, I forged ahead and plugged the microscope into one of our Intel Mac's USB ports, to be greeted initially ... by nothing. What I needed was a viewer program, but alas the ones provided were for PC's only. It then occurred to me that most current Mac's come with a built in video camera and several programs to access it, including iChat and Photo Booth, and with the microscope plugged in, I found that at least one of said programs allowed the user to select which camera to use, and by selecting the microscope, ... whew, it WORKED! We and our grandchildren were... and are enthralled.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than anticipated., December 5, 2009

By 

S. Kelley (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: USB Digital Microscope - up to 200x Magnification (White) (Office Product)

Ordered this as a Christmas present for the grandkids.
Took a while to figure out the mini-CD is under the internal packaging.
Installed the software with the microscope already plugged in.
Turned on my webcam and could not get any input feed from the scope.
Turned off/on the microscope twice and program finally popped up.
I use Amcap for video capture and it worked fine once it got started.
First images were of my beard. The detail was absolutely amazing.
The focus is a bit touchy/tricky, had to be adjusted with slight
movements of the scope. Next we tried a ladybug. Again, the detail
was fantastic.
My wife liked it so much we will likely be getting one for ourselves.
A lot of fun along with the thrill of discovery. Highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Works poorly with a PC, August 9, 2011

By 

Mycro - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: USB Digital Microscope - up to 200x Magnification (White) (Office Product)

Very difficult to focus on anything even print. Takes too much time, and results with an image of very poor quality.