Several years ago, I bought my son an IntelPlay QX3 USB microscope.  I was astonished at the quality of the images and the degree of magnification possible from such a cheap "toy".  The interface comes with lots of goofy sounds and buttons for kids but you can ignore them as you like.  It can be used in the stand or removed and held like a video camera - great for looking up your own nose (a source of endless fascination for 5 year olds).  Magnifications are 10x, 60x and 200x.  It has proven practically indestructible as well.

That said, I can not recommend it.  The focus knob is rather coarse, making it very easy to overshoot the point of resolution at high magnification.  My kids didn't have the fine motor skills needed to make it work.  Much worse, however, was the manufacturer's decision not to support the product.  It still works with my old XP computer but can not be used with Vista.  Since the XP is on its last legs, I'll lose the microscope at the same time.

Conclusion:  Based on my experience, the "toy" models have plenty of magnification and resolution but still have to be considered as limited-life devices because of the need to stay compatible with your operating system.  Manufacturers of more expensive models have more incentive to keep the accompanying software current so you'll get a longer useful life from the device.

Mike Rossander

www.rossander.org/infosec



      

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