Editorial Product Review:

Item Description:
The QX-5 Microscope is the perfect educational tool for children who want to learn about their world! Attach this electronic microscope to your PC and let children explore the tiny, hidden parts of their world.

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More related to this product:
     click for more

More related to this product:

• Learning Resources Prepared Slides Combination Set, 48 Specimens
• A World in a Drop of Water: Exploring with a Microscope
• World of the Microscope (Science & Experiments Series)
• The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope: Internet Linked (Complete Books)
• Janice VanCleave's Microscopes and Magnifying Lenses: Mind-boggling Chemistry and Biology Experiments You Can Turn Into Science Fair Projects
• click for more

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Customer Rating: - Great hardware, not-so-good software
I love this microscope! My kids and I are having lots of fun with it. The best part is being able to take photos and videos of the stuff you look at. My son has used the photos for science homework assignments. My only complaint (and the only reason I gave this product 4 stars rather, than 5) is that the software is buggy. The software interface is fine and child-friendly, however it crashed one of my computers (blue screen). The microscope would work just fine, then out of nowhere, a blue screen of death and I'd have to reboot the whole system. So, I connected it to another computer and the software crashed when trying to save a movie to the hard drive. However, on the second machine I can just restart the program and it does save the movie and works fine otherwise, just a nuisance to have to restart the program every time I save a movie. Both of my machines are high-end computers, well-maintained running Windows XP. I emailed tech support via[...] regarding these software issues about a month ago and never got a reply. I did not try phone support. But not impressed with email support. I don't understand why a tech company would not embrace email support over phone support as I do, but anyway... aside from the software issues, I love this product and there is a good chance the software would work fine on a differently configured PC. Still, I'm hoping that Digital Blue updates the software soon.

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Customer Rating: - 200 X in my dreams
This product is almost there. Almost. Watching mites at 10x and 60x was awesome.

Take it up to 200x, however, and you run into two problems. The most glaring problem is the insufficient illumination. Unless the object is pale or white, I couldn't see a thing. I kept searching for things to view, only to find that they were too dark.

The second problem is that the microscope lacks the ability to move the stage left, right or fore and aft. At 10x and 60x this isn't a problem. You can use tweezers to slide the object around. But at 200x you need a method for making finer adjustments. Trying to focus on an eyelash took 5 minutes of frustration.

With that said, the QX-5 is almost there. Brighter LEDs and a reduction in the max resolution to 150X would yield a superior product.

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Customer Rating: - Also for serious research
Believe it or not, this so-called 'toy microscope' can actually be used in a real research too. This gadget has been cited and used in the following publications:
- "Profiting from nature: macroporous copper with superior mechanical
properties"
- "An inexpensive microslab gel DNA electrophoresis system with real-time
fluorescence detection"
- "GASEOUS MICROEMBOLI SIZING IN EXTRACORPOREAL CIRCUITS USING ULTRASOUND BACKSCATTER"
- "Personal Cytometers: Slow Flow or No Flow?"
- "On-line low-volume transesterification-based assay for immobilized lipases"

When qualified using a features-vs-price ratio, this gadget would get a high ranking. Moreover, this 'cheap' toy is a perfect starting point to induce creativities among new science and engineering students, particularly in regions with limited resources.

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Customer Rating: - Difficult installation
I bought this as an educational toy for my daughter. The design is cheap and very low quality. It also lacks its own power supply and relies on power from USB. The software is primitive and keeps putting my display in the lowest possible resolution. Installation was a nightmare as I have described below.

Installation: I first tried installing it on a new XP machine. No luck as the microscope never came online. Then I tired it on a Win2K which did not fair any better. Next I tried their "trouble shooting" guide. It basically tells you to keep re-installing and rebooting until it works. No luck there either. I noticed that it seems designed for older machines. I therefore tried an old Win98 machine. This went better and I was actually able to control the scope's lights from the computer. But still no picture. I then rebooted the machine once more followed by disconnecting and reconnecting the scope. This did the trick. I was actually able to see pictures. Any movie making however crashes the software. I realize that others have been able to install it on Win2K and XP but that may be due to configuration differences. A good product will install regardless of configuration issues.

Operation: The pictures are good to mediocre but for the price they are fine. It is also nice that it has two lights. Lets you look at things like coins that are not transparent. The microscope is removable so it is possible to point it at things and play with it.

On the whole, the software and problems with XP and Win2K make it unacceptable to me. If I did not just happen to have a Win98 machine around I would have returned it. As is, I have it hooked up to the Win98 box and is good enough for a toy. My advise is to keep your expectations low and buy it from a local place. Then if it gives you trouble just return it.