Digital Blue QX5 Digial Microscope

For this price, it's a really good USB microscope, I'm just missing an active scale in the software.
There is a fix ruler, so that will do for now...
It would be great if the software would be there for Apple OS X as well.

I learned of this digital microscope in the Master Gardener program in Marin County, CA and I must say it is a very exciting addition to my home educational library. The QX5 is very easy to setup and get running. It offers flexibility in viewing material on the existing stand or in a hand-held mode. The fine focus is slightly difficult to obtain but the overall performance is outstanding for the price. It is 10x, 60x, and 200x in power and so can be used for many slides. My main use is with plant tissue, insects, and inspection of diseased plants. It meets all expectations and is highly versatile for visual inspection of minute objects not visible to the naked eye.
As an educational object for children, I find it very helpful for adults and of value in exploring the world in a different way. It is amazing to find a microscope that works so well with a PC to not only provide great magnification but also has the capacity of taking still photos and videos! I just made a presentation using both still and video modes for plant insect specimens. Try this unit out and you will be surprised at the quality of the image. The LED light source is adequate for most observations. I do use an additional LED flashlight to add more light to the subject. You do have upper and lower light sources in this unit.

Frank thinks you will enjoy this microscope.
Highly recommended.

I bought several of these microscopes to use in high school and college classes. It is great to be able to hook it up to a monitor for viewing by the entire class. The feature for saving snapshots of the item you're looking at to your computer has been invaluable for students creating slideshows and presentations. Even though it is marketed as a toy, this simple-looking microscope can be used and enjoyed by all ages. I would highly recommend it!

This is the third Blue I've bought. Two went to my grandkids and this one I donated to a Christian school where I do volunteer work. They're great tools for young science students.

Five or so years ago, I gave the earlier version of this microscope to our two older grandchildren. On talking to their dad recently, I found that they still use it for looking at things. My other son's oldest son turned 7 a few days ago. I thought that he would enjoy one of the newer QX-5 models. By searching the Internet for this model, I found that it was available at a very good price from the company who supports the microscope. When I called them they said they were out of stock but gave me the name of a dealer who sold it for the same price. In installing the software no problem was encountered using a Vista computer system. The box does not say it works with Vista but the supporting company said it should have the software, but if it didn't they could send it to me.

My son installed the software and initally helped my grandson to use it. After a bit he could use it without a lot of instruction, though I would recommend that an adult read over the instructions and do some of the operations with the child.

The microscope can be taken off its stand and held close to an object to view it. If the child is careless or accidentally drops the scope, damage could occur. It is nice that the QX-5 can take pictures of the viewed objects and also videos of specimens which are in motion.