Solid and professional looking

Would be 5 start if everything was in the box.I Need to contact the seller. The 6-hole disc diaphragm is missing.

at first I was going to return it as it was focusing, then I realize that there is a screw that need to be removed so you can lift the stage to the maximum to get the lens to focus, nothing about that screw is mentioned anywhere, not even online. otherwise is a good item.

Right out of the box, this scientific instrument impressed. We easily began looking at the prepared slides which came with the kit. It's easy enough my seven year old began to experiemtn looking at all types of papers and fibers and tape and dust for fun. I highly recommend the Usborne books that accompanied this kit, but another great read to excite young minds about microscopes is a little book called Greg's Microscope. We will enjoy this tool for years to come. I also like that there is an option for batteries as well as an a/c power adapter.

This microscope is great! It has a movable platform instead of movable lenses like the less expensive types. There is a good variety of pre-made slides that comes with the unit, as well as the necessary stuff to make your own, including a "slicer" to get very thin sections from things. The lenses are glass (not plastic). The lighting is very well designed. There is a lower variable LED to allow light to come up through a specimen. There is also an upper variable LED to allow the top of a specimen to be lit when looking at a solid specimen that is not transparent. The dual lighting feature is great, and the variable feature is also great. The unit doesn't come with an equipment operating manual...how to turn it on, how to focus, etc. (that can be downloaded, but it is not written with good syntax). However, if you've used a microscope before in biology, you will have no problem. It is easy to use. There is a booklet that comes with it that describes how to make samples, etc. and different things about looking at things under any microscope. That booklet is very good. However, the bottom edge of it was mashed when it was packaged for shipment, but the manufacturer gladly sent us a replacement booklet. All of the magnifications work well. There is even a built-in pointer in one of the eyepieces that helps the user to point at a specific part of a specimen. I highly recommend this microscope. It was a great gift for our 12 year old granddaughter, plus it's fun for me (popop), too!

Top notch! I bought this for my son and i, who is four, and we have had alot of fun with it. My boy can easily set the microscope up and put a slide in to look at. I get it in focus for us to look at. The focus knob feels very presice. The pre made slides, such as a housefly leg, are really cool and well done. We have done bugs and leafs from outside to look at which was really cool. The option to either run the lights off of batteries or wall plug was a good idea. This microscope feels and acts like a well made tool and all the extras you get with it makes this one of those really good values you usually dont find.

I wanted to get a microscope for my now 11-year-old niece’s birthday, something that definitely was not a toy microscope and could last her through her junior-high and high-school education if need be. When it came, the packaging was a bit questionable, which is the reason I didn’t give this 5 stars (more like 4-1/2, but we can’t give a half star). It arrived as one box inside another, the inner box containing the microscope, manuals and kit, and the outer box containing it all. Unfortunately, when I picked up the box in which it was shipped, I was able to feel and hear the box containing the actual microscope slip and slide inside the shipping box. When I opened it, there was very little cushioning in the box to make the inner package more secure and not bump about in order to avoid the risk of damage during transport. However, despite this, it arrived in good condition.The quality of the scope was more than what I expected. It’s not, of course, professional level, but as far as an entry-level microscope and for the hobbyist, this fits the bill nicely. I looked at the microscope by this same company that’s a few dollars more ($84) and tried to find a difference, but the only difference I could find was the inclusion of cover glass slips for the slides in the kit of the more expensive microscope. I was going to get that one, because I wanted my niece to have cover glass slips for the slides she’d prepare herself, but I read a couple of negative remarks about that particular microscope concerning the cover glass slips. Both said the glass slips arrived broken and in slivers. They seemed to not be well secured from what I could tell by one reviewer’s photos, and didn’t seem to be in any kind of box that would prevent them from being strewn about while shipping. Maybe they were in something that came loose during shipping; I don’t know. In any event, since I didn’t want to take the chance of my niece running into glass slivers, I decided against that model and chose instead to get this one for $79 which seemed to be the exact microscope as the 84-dollar one, from what I could see. I then bought cover glass slips separately which also came with 50 slides. The extra slides and cover glass slips plus the microscope for $79 only cost a few dollars more in total than the slightly more expensive microscope, and the slides and cover glass arrived well wrapped, secured and unbroken.I opened the box containing the microscope to make sure it worked properly and to check the clarity of the specimens from the very few prepared slides included with this kit. Included from the manufacturer is a small manual that made me glaze over immediately, that, to me, might as well be written in Greek. Fortunately, this microscope kit also comes with another nicely illustrated book called “The World of the Microscope” that I found to be very helpful, and will get you up and running in no time. There are also batteries and a much-needed dust cover.“I don’t need no doggone map; I can find it myself!” My junior-high school biology class experience came back to me as I first fumbled with the microscope trying to see anything but spots and squiggly lines. I finally examined the illustrated book more carefully and it reminded me how to use the scope. Following the directions of the book, I then got a crystal-clear image and was able to play around with the microscope with the few slides that came with it. Very enjoyable and reminded me why, as a child, I loved the microscope my parents bought me.My only cons for this product are packaging and too few prepared slides. You may want to buy some extra pre-made slides as there are only a few with this kit. Otherwise, if you’re looking for a nice quality microscope, I do recommend this one. I’m thoroughly happy with this purchase. This should last my young niece for quite some time.UPDATE:The microscope is great! Everyone loved it, especially my great niece. Her father was jokingly scheming, trying to find ways to confiscate it from her. Her parents (my nephew and niece-in-law) were so grateful for this gift, because it makes learning so much fun and gets the kids really interested in learning more about science. I wanted to update this review to show you the level of clarity you can get with this particular microscope. I bought the AmScope PS25 prepared microscope slide set with 25 basic biological science slides. These came in a wooden case. The picture posted is of the pine leaf. Pretty nice. I'm very happy I got the extra slides. All in all, I'm really happy with this purchase and expect this hopefully will be something to last for years to come.

I am a middle school life science teacher with a small personal budget for my own family purchases. This is a great starter kit for young scientists for the price. Even those who know and work with microscopes will see that as a new starter scope for kids, this is a great deal.It comes with a good starter set of prepared slides, and a informative guide with nice project ideas for students written for up to middle school level.Another great feature is the battery powered dual led light on it- one for bright field work (through the specimen lighting from underneath) and the second from above the specimen that is useful for minerals, thick leafs, feathers, whole bugs, and other opaque items that can't be lit from below.