Mega Duo STEM Telescope

Works really well, better than I was expecting. Image is clear and glass lenses seem to be good quality. Only issue like others have stated was the bottom led light is too bright, but I used white coffee filter paper over it to reduce and diffuse the light, it worked perfectly. Comes with a few prepared slides and blanks to make your own, but its more fun to look at random stuff you can find. For the money I think it works really well, my kids loved it and so did I. Comes with some brine shrimp eggs to hatch and look at too, haven't tried it, but hopefully it will work. Looked at some flower blossoms from my yard, they had insect eggs all over them, along with some unidentified tiny mite, a new discovery, it was neat. I also looked at a stingless bee trapped in amber I've had for over 10 years when I used to have access to a professional microscope similar to this style, it looked just as clear with this as I remember from the laboratory. So, again I was very pleased with this versatile microscope.

This to me is a great scope for kids getting into science. It has both top and bottom lighting (allowing lots of objects to be viewed without putting them on slides.) The bottom lens is far away from the object (This keeps the children from cracking the lens into the object and breaking it) and it is portable (so you can take it with you outside if the kids adventure into outdoor discovery).

The one suggestion I would make is to have the eyepieces lock into the scope. If someone picks this up to carry it from the back, the eye pieces can fall out easily.

The included slides are a great entry into the world of the small, and the ability to throw a rock, or a leaf, or any other object under the scope to zoom in is great for kids without having to prep a slide. The brine shrimp are a wonderful way to get kids into thinking about looking at small things in greater detail, and the clear box allows them to throw insects into the box and look at them in detail.

Overall, I would definitely buy this again.

I was impressed by the quality of this microscope. i bought this to replace the inexpensive plastic microscopes that use slides, since I soon realized that I would not be prepping slides. This NG microscope allows the kids to explore and discover their environment. With two light sources, the object can be clearly lighted. The magnification is sufficient for surface examination of 3-D, unprepped specimens. And the magnification can be change easily with the supplied eye pieces. Would recommend for class or home.

Great beginner microscope. The adjustment knob on the first one we got was broken, but replaced it promptly. Easy to use for our 6 yo. Has an option for overhead or back-lighting which is handy. We’ve had a good time looking at crystals and making our own slides from plants. My only qualm is that though the brine shrimp experiment is fun, it’s hard to explain to a kid that the shrimp are going to die pretty quickly. Also part of the shrimp experiment suggests you put toxins in their water to see what happens, and I’m not a PETA fanatic or anything, but that’s not really the lesson I want to teach my kid. Be forewarned if you too are contentious about how your child treats other living things.

I ordered this microscope for my 10 yr old granddaughter. I had just returned one that I had ordered before that was junk. I have been a research scientist for many years and have used many types of microscopes including electron microscopes so was delighted to receive this one which you can actually see through. Of course it is not one that could be useful for a scientist but I think my grand daughter will be very pleased with the scope and the materials that came with it. I look forward to helping her develop her interest in science with this tool.