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| Home >> Toy Details and Reviews >> My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope | ||||||||||||
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User Submitted My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope Reviews (cont...)Date: 2008-04-23 Great for your little scientist This microscope is great for the budding scientist. It is relatively durable & lightweight. Our family has used it to look at everything from hairs to bugs. It comes with everything you need to get started quickly - specimens, slides, tools. Its easy to set up, in fact you can use it right out of the box. My children love this toy and I have to admit it takes me back to my own love of science. Date: 2008-04-21 gift for 9 year old daughter I got this microscope as a gift for my 9 year old daughter. so far, it has been great. She loves it. It came with some sample slides to get her started as well as some blank slides so she can look at her own things. She is having a lot of fun with it. It is definitely a good starter microscope for a child who is interested in science. Date: 2008-01-18 Great choice for 12 year old son My son is a bit of a science nut--and he loved this gift! He got one of the "microscope kits" (900x) when he was 9, but the focus and quality were both lacking. The kit came with all kinds of slides and accessories, but that microscope was frustrating. However, my son does not usually take good care of things and so I was hesitant to buy an expensive microscope. This Duo-Scope seems like a good compromise, as the quality is good enough that he can actually use it with success but it was inexpensive enough that I don't worry he might harm it. [It does not come with a lot of "bells and whistles" but it did come with a few prepared slides and a dust cover. I hate the fitted case his other microscope came in but I know it isn't safe in his room with just a cover, so we found a plastic tub that fits his microscope and related items.] Our son can see well through the lens and has looked at both larger items and small items. He wanted a 900x microscope but has agreed that this is much more satisfying than his old one, which has the higher power. He also received a gift of school quality prepared slides and has had a great time looking at them through this microscope. My only concern is that this doesn't look super durable--only time will tell. In the meantime, I'm a satisfied customer and my son is a happy scientist in the making! Date: 2008-01-16 Top Notch Great price, Great Optics (given the application). If you have a budding scientist or just a curious mind buy this for some great learning and fun. My son loves the top and bottom light (duo-scope), it makes this instrument much more versatile than I would have thought. The battery power makes it great for dragging it out into the field. I couldn't be more happy. One niggle is the focus knob will drive the platform into the largest optic if you're not careful, easy enough to work around but sometimes an annoyance. Date: 2008-01-16 Hard to beat its total value in a beginner microscope Let's cut to the chase: If you're looking for an inexpensive microscope for younger children, the Duo-Scope would be very difficult to beat for features, quality, and cost. After reviewing several sources on inexpensive microscopes, I took a chance for Christmas on this less documented model. I'm glad I did. PROS: * Solid construction. Despite its light weight, it feels like a coherent whole and has no rattling pieces. The objective lenses click nicely into place and the mechanics have a silky feel when operated. This model considerably betters the microscope I had as a child growing up in the Sixties, so some items ARE better made today than yesteryear. * Smooth focusing wheels that don't clunk through the mechanism's gearing. * Permanent, bright light sources from two separate LED bulbs. Far better than mirrored scopes. * A pointer in the optic field--a nice addition to a low cost scope. * A plethora of accessories including four prepared slides, six blank slides (including concave/well), slide covers, stains, tweezers, scalpel, lens wipes, vinyl dust cover, and more--just about anything you would need to get started on a basic level (except for three AA batteries). * A detailed manual of a higher quality than most will expect, especially considering the microscope's country of origin. CONS: * Made in China. * The upper and lower lights cannot both be turned on at the same time for maximum illumination of semi-translucent objects. * When using the highest power objective, the optic field is still too dim. * Users can ram the highest power objective into the slide without realizing it, breaking slide covers and possibly damaging the objective (This is a problem on most inexpensive scopes. The stage does have some give, though, so while slide covers may break, it's doubtful slides will.) * Though the ocular appears to be on a swivel base, it's not, making it less convenient for two people to share the microscope. * The diaphragm, which controls the amount of light reaching the stage, doesn't appear to make much difference on most of its settings. *No secondary fine-focus knobs. (However, this won't be missed because the scope's macro-focusing mechanism is smooth enough to compensate if given a light touch.) All things considered, the cons are minor. Some have said this microscope is mostly plastic, but that may not be the case. The main upright portion that features the focusing rail of the scope is definitely a powder-coated metal. Considering that this part is the one that truly matters for overall integrity of the microscope, I'd have to say that this makes the scope an even better deal for the money. All the positives of this entry-level microscope make for a very good purchase that should last for several years. It's also a great deal for parents testing the waters to see if their children would enjoy owning a microscope. Better to invest in an inexpensive, but good quality, scope than to pay hundreds more and end up with something that gathers dust on the shelf. The box recommends this scope for children 10 and up, but with parental instruction and supervision, children a few years younger would enjoy it, too. (Steer clear of the scalpel that comes included, though!) A worthy product that would be a fine gift to a budding scientist.
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