With Peter's help, we seem to have at least three choices. Rick's prices don't quite match. The MiScope is $275 for the basic scope. The higher price buys multiple light sources, etc. Since its compact with no objectives, parts hanging off, it seems to be tough, able to sustain being carried about. The QX5 at $29 would be a real bargain, where did you find it at that price? List is $99, discounted to $79. At $29, I agree, it could be a throw away. The Novatech price is in pounds, and I didn't look up the conversion. Has anyone used this scope? I like the over/under illumination of the QX5, and $29 would be a great price. At that price, I'd try one myself. The MiScope has some good software - it can take still photos, movies, and has built-in drawing and measurement tools. Do the others offer something similar? Rick said he could post some images - it would be interesting to compare all three. We'd be glad to publish a set of pictures taken by each scope on our web-site so that people could take a look - I certainly want to take Rick up on his offer. Thanks Jerry ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************