Planet Toys Planet Earth Digital Microscope Kit
by Planet Toys
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List Price: Our Price: $33.99 You Save: $16.00 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $20.00 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Planet Toys Planet Earth Digital Microscope Kit
Customer Review: Not the best way to make biology exciting
Summary: 1 Stars
The good:
- none
The bad:
- Horrible lenses, giving out poor image clarity. My niece and nephew took a lot at it once and lost interest completely. It is blurry even with 100x so you would not make anything out of it at 300x or even 900x
- The camera lacks color vividness. Even with the pink ostrich feather, the pictures still come out Grey.
- The poor focusing camera. The camera itself does not give a good image to start with. With the attachable lenses screwed all the way, the image will be out of the focus. You have to loosen up the lenses piece to get a focused picture but the image quality is still poor.
- Not very easy to use, after you focus the image with your eyepiece lenses, you swap the camera in, you will have to refocus the pictures.
It was probably the most hyped toys for my niece and nephew, might because their mom is a scientist. But they lost interest after a few minutes of playing with it, with adults supervised. There is nothing 'fun' about it and not the best way to make biology exciting.
do not buy. it's the waste of money.
Customer Review: Mac Compatibility
Summary: 4 Stars
One of these days these Chinese manufacturers are going to realize people out there own Macs too. The software this thing comes with is pretty crummy and was obviously made before Vista even came out (Not that Vista has any merit). So if you are jazzed about the camera/computer aspect, brace yourself.
The product is good enough without the camera component though, considering what it is. I'd see it as a bonus.
HOWEVER
If you have a Mac, and want to use this, it's easy enough although you won't find out how anywhere on the manufacturer's site or any place else on the web for that matter. Except I tried out a little app that will let you view AND record from the microscope using a Mac. And its free.
The camera component of "Planet Toys Planet Earth Digital Microscope Kit" can be used with the Mac if you download a free webcam program called Macam from:
http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/
One tip: when using it, go to the settings and turn down the brightness.
Customer Review: unbelievable
Summary: 1 Stars
Unbelievable crap. Camera is nothing more than a cheap webcam. Doesn't integrate into the microscope. Essentially just sits on top. Fuzzy poor resolution picture. Included software is minimal. Focus on microscope is ineffective. Slides are less than diverse. I fear the frustration of this toy has pushed my daughter further away from learning the joys and miracles of nature.
Also bought Planet Earth's grow a world. Better product but how can you mess up a plastic globe and seeds. Instructions are confusing. The product does waste a lot of water. To me this seems against the message of "Planet Earth" Practice what you preach. Also both products use alot more packaging than needed. Regardless of what Planet Earth wants you to believe these are not environmentally friendly products.
I do enjoy the documentaries, books and movies that Planet Earth develops. Unfortunately their educational tools are well below par, a waste of money, and a poor use of the Earth's limited resources.
Customer Review: If you are having webcam problems
Summary: 3 Stars
Loosen (or maybe tighten a little) the lens on the web camera to focus and get a clear picture. The software was a little tricky to get installed. The included software on the disk never completed installation, but a link provided took me to the website to download the latest. The generic webcam software worked fine (after loosening the lens on the camera), but we still haven't been able to get the 'Planet Earth' view/capture software to recognize the camera yet.
The microscope is OK for viewing the included slides at 100 and 300x. At 900x it is difficult to focus, but not impossible. We also haven't been able to focus the webcam clearly with the microscope.
We only paid [...]so it was still worth the price.
Customer Review: Junk Junk Junk
Summary: 1 Stars
My son got this gift from family a couple of Christmases ago. He was too young at the time to play with it, so we waited a year to pull it out. When we did, we discovered it wasn't compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7, and we couldn't really find software updates for it. We did eventually get Windows 7 to install the USB camera part as a generic webcam, and the viewing software did eventually install in Windows 7, but then our disappointment really got going.
The optics were very poor quality, and it was nearly impossible to see what was on the slides, whether using the webcam or looking directly through the eyepiece. Overall, this was a huge letdown. Save your money. Buy something that works.