My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope
by C & A Scientific
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List Price: Our Price: $62.10 Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 weeks Buy Used: from $60.00 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope
Customer Review: Great Microscope, Great Buy!
Summary: 5 Stars
For Christmas I received two gift $50 certificates to Amazon and so I used some of the money to buy the Duo-Scope. I was a little hesitant to purchase it because it was listed as a toy and as a 19 year old college student I wanted something of quality. After reading the rave reviews I went ahead and got it and so far it has really lived up to its reputation! It is light weight and portable making it ideal for home or field study and the versatility of having the two lights really makes this "toy" worth the money.
This scope has quality optics and an adjustable aperture mounted beneath the stage to allow varying levels of light to hit the specimen allowing for clear and easy viewing. The included concavity slide is great for viewing live specimens (such as those found in pond water) and the LED lights operate at a low temperature so you won't immediately roast your specimens (a problem I had with the class scopes in high school). I'm not sure if the prepared slides vary from kit to kit, but mine came with pollen, salt crystals, paramecium, and mouth smear slides.
I would have been nice if the stage moved side to side to view different portions of the slide or specimen but this really isn't a problem at all. I marked the scopes durability as a 3 out of 5 because although the scope is metal and is made to be used in the field, it is still a piece of scientific equipment and should be handled with care.
Overall, the MFL-06 microscope is a quality piece of equipment that will allow for years of fun and educational scientific study for scientist of all ages!
Customer Review: Works well ... not a typical toy microscope
Summary: 5 Stars
My nephew loves this microscope. I was afraid that it would be of a quality typical of a toy. This is about the same quality as the microscopes I used in high school, which was exactly what I was hoping for. We were able to view cells in an apple slice on the highest magnification. The high mag was not finicky at all. The stage moves smoothly and uniformly and there were no obvious signs of optical defects. (I didn't calibrate it ... it is still a toy)
Words of caution: We accidentally got a small piece of debris on the highest magnification objective lens and it was very difficult to clean. Also, make sure that explain to the child to always set the stage to its highest position before looking into the eyepiece and focus by moving the stage down. Otherwise, it is easy to break a cover-slip or slide by crushing it against the objective lens.
This a great product. It is well made and functions as advertised. I wasn't sure how to mark durability. It is fragile just by its nature.
The only negative was the marketing. For example, it says "lab quality for a toy price" on the box. That may be true, but it is awkward to hear that read out loud on Christmas morning. Also it is advertised as a "duo" and "two microscopes in one!" This is untrue; all they mean is that there are lights above and below the stage. It is a common feature in microscopes.
Customer Review: Great for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
I just got this to use with my twin 12 year old boys. This is a quality microscope for the price. I got it after getting a 20x stereo microscope. The top lighting feature is great. Just understand you won't get the same effect as a stereo microscope and the depth of field at 40x is greatly reduced, just a limitation of optics. Light is really not too dim at 400x. The supplies that came with it are a good start. From amazon or a place like Edmund Scientific you can get more prepared slides, slides and slide preparation kits. There's enough here to get started but if you are really going to use it I would suggest some supplies. I really can't see a downside to this scope for the price range. It's an excellent value. While there is no fine focus the focus works ok even at high power. Interesting how the stage is moved to focus. The action is nice and smooth.
Just a note from checking things out. The MFL-2 is also listed on Amazon. From looking closer at them the MFL-2 is almost $30 dollars more but I think the only difference is the MFL-2 has rechargable batteries with an external power source. The optics and the lighting features seem identical so if you don't need the rechargable batteries and external power cord are not needed it seems like a lot of money to pay for that with no increase in performance.
Customer Review: Great choice for 12 year old son
Summary: 4 Stars
My son is a bit of a science nut--and he loved this gift! He got one of the "microscope kits" (900x) when he was 9, but the focus and quality were both lacking. The kit came with all kinds of slides and accessories, but that microscope was frustrating. However, my son does not usually take good care of things and so I was hesitant to buy an expensive microscope. This Duo-Scope seems like a good compromise, as the quality is good enough that he can actually use it with success but it was inexpensive enough that I don't worry he might harm it. [It does not come with a lot of "bells and whistles" but it did come with a few prepared slides and a dust cover. I hate the fitted case his other microscope came in but I know it isn't safe in his room with just a cover, so we found a plastic tub that fits his microscope and related items.] Our son can see well through the lens and has looked at both larger items and small items. He wanted a 900x microscope but has agreed that this is much more satisfying than his old one, which has the higher power. He also received a gift of school quality prepared slides and has had a great time looking at them through this microscope. My only concern is that this doesn't look super durable--only time will tell. In the meantime, I'm a satisfied customer and my son is a happy scientist in the making!Customer Review: The scoop on the scope
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my son's 9th birthday after reading many glowing reviews. It comes with a packet of prepared slides, slide covers, stain, scalpel, forceps, and a few other accessories. The microscope has been a treasure for us and we have all enjoyed it, including my 6-year-old son. My biggest disappointment with it is that there have been many specimens which we could not get to come into focus except using the "10x" objective. The other two seem a little unnecessary when so often only the 10x works.
A few days ago, after warning the kids a million times to be extremely careful with the microscope, I unfortunately knocked it off a shelf from a height of about 3 feet. The black scope at the top was broken off. We taped it back onto the base and incredibly, the scope still seems to work exactly as it did before. It actually concerns me a little bit that it works just as it did before, but I won't complain.
Somebody mentioned how easily the slides can be broken by accidentally lowering the objective onto the slide. This is true. Several have been broken.
Overall, we love this item and I think it has sparked my boys' interest in science and microbiology.