Edu Science Quick-Switch Microscope (Blue)

I hadn't read the previous reviews until after I ordered this microscope for my grandaughter, so I was very nervous before its' arrival. It's a great first microscope, but an adult needs to be there to help the child learn to use it. Adjustment of the height, and magnification is necessary; same as with a more expensive microscope. Our first project, after examining the included slides, was to compare samples of my hair and hers. She was totally in awe to see the hairs at 300x. At 900x she was speechless. I feel that this was a great investment, not only as a teaching instrument, but also as an activity that can be shared.

I was visiting my nephew and saw this microscope that I bought a while back and had forgot I even bought it for him. He seems to still use it! Nice!

Although she's younger than the recommended age, my 5 year-old daughter got this microscope as a gift and it has been great. She has trouble seeing through a regular viewer, so the screen on the side is a huge help. I brought it in to her Kindergarten class and showed the kids various slides and they were thrilled. I did find it difficult to see clearly through the eyepiece, which may explain the criticism by older kids. But for the price, I think it's a good toy for younger kids.

I bought a similar microscope by the same manufacturer for my daughter, but it does not work. It requires you to provide a light source, which makes it very difficult to get bright enough lighting to see anything. It has only a coarse adjustment, no fine adjustment. It comes with neat slides, but we've never been able to see anything on them.

Whatever you do, do not buy this microscope! The LED light is too bright and you are unable to adjust it. It is near impossible to see anything through the eye piece and the view screen on the front is a joke. You can barely get anything in focus because as soon as you let go off the focus knob everything goes out of focus. This toy is made entirely of cheap plastic and it just about the worst microscope I've ever used. Spare yourself the aggrivation and don't order this!