Whether you’re a parent, K-12 student, K-12 teacher, or any combination of the them, back to school is just around the corner, and everyone is beginning to get prepared for the next 8 months of homework, grading, and tests–I mean, learning, of course. 🙂
With all the hustle and bustle of getting backpacks, clothes, and office supplies together with the flurry of in store sales going on, who has the time to think of (and learn) about microscopes? And then acquire specialized knowledge to pick out a student microscope? I know my parents certainly didn’t, and I ended up with a toy microscope instead of a student microscope that would not fit the bill of what I needed at that time of my life.
So to help you save a little time on your back to school shopping for the 2014-2015 school year, I went ahead and compiled a list of my top 3 student microscope all inclusive packages to get your class or your student ready to go, without breaking the bank!
Here we go!
1) AmScope’s M158C-PS25-WM – “Almost-All-in-One with Quality for Novices”
In my opinion, this is the wonder-scope of the bunch here, and an excellent value. While this isn’t the cheapest student microscope I’ve ever come across, the M158c-PS25-WM offers stellar optical quality for its price point, and comes with prepared slides, and a project book to get your class or your student learning and thinking about the world around us.
I’ve touted this unit with a USB microscope camera package on my blog before (here for full review), so I won’t spend too much time getting detailed on this package, but it has an LED light source on it. LEDs last longer than any other kind of bulb on the planet, so you won’t be replacing bulbs on this anytime soon. It will outlast everything else on the microscope (not to say the unit will go bad, but 40,000 life hours of light is a VERY long time).
It has 40x – 1000x total magnification, however most students won’t need to go beyond 400x. So, with this student microscope, you have the extra room just in case you do need it.
The prepared slides are dyed, stained, preserved, and sealed, so they can immediately upon opening the box get going and learning. Unfortunately, the camera from the other package I mentioned is not included, so it would have to be purchased separately. Also, no blank slides come with the microscope, so if you wanted to make your own slides, you’ll have to get blank slides, cover slips, stains, and possibly tools as well (tweezers, scalpels, droppers, etc).
But, if you have a complete novice on your hands, or are teaching, then the prepared slides are all you want and need. They’re easy to place on the microscope stage, center, focus, and view, and have samples on them that are difficult for the average user to find and prepare in the wild, such as honey bee wings or onion epidermis (skin).
For more pictures of this great student microscope as well as information on buying, you can do so from here: AmScope M158C-PS25-WM
2. Celestron’s 44121 Microscope Kit – “The Ultimate Student Microscope in Value”
For the extremely budget conscious family or the teacher getting this equipment out of her own pocket (our poor educational funding in the U.S. is an issue to discuss another time, however), this Celestron 44121 is the ideal kit. It is a bit smaller in size than the others included in my list of best valued student microscopes, but it more than makes up for it with its included accessories.
It also comes with a minor pen light from the top, so thin opaque samples can possibly be viewed at low magnification as well! An excellent value for the explorer that may be wanting to look at more than just slides with their microscope.
While the AmScope M158C-PS25-WM comes with a project book and a set of prepared slides, it misses the exploratory point of a microscope because it doesn’t come with any blank slides like the 44121 does. This package is all you need to get going to actually make your own slides to view! While for the absolute novice this may be a bit tricky (it takes one part creativity, and one part research about collecting and staining a sample), it really allows your young explorers to get their feet wet with concepts like the scientific method, how microscopes work, and what kinds of things they can see with a student microscope. It even comes with methylyne blue stain, tweezers, cover slips, and a dropper, as well as 3 samples that can be viewed immediately after opening the box. It truly has it all.
Magnification wise, this unit is 40x – 600x, so not quite as high as the AmScope M158C-E, but even that student microscope had more magnification than necessary, so it still fits the bill excellently. The only downside of the price point is that this unit has a bit of a cheaper feel to it–it’s less metal framed, more plastic.
For more pictures of the unit as well as information on buying, you can do so from here: Celestron 44121
3. Omano’s “OM115LD-XSP2” Microscope Gift Kit – “The Student Microscope Kit for the Unsure Student (or Parent)”
The Omano OM115LD-XSP2, despite having a long and unclear model number to the common observer, is the best of both worlds in terms of a student microscope. This is the package that has everything–the book, the blank slides, the prepared slides, the slide preparation tools, the stains–everything you could need to get started with microscopy.
For that reason alone, I feel this is the ideal package for the grandparent who wants to get their grandchildren an educational gift without breaking the bank, and aren’t sure what they want exactly. What more could they want? It has everything they could possibly need if they want a student microscope.
Quality wise, the optics on this are as solid as the M158C-E, with the same type of a lighting system as well (LED). The book is exactly the same project book as the AmScope unit as well, so there really is nothing left to be desired with this microscope package kit.
It isn’t the cheapest of the three student microscope units reviewed here by any means, but it’s still not so expensive as to put it out of the budget of any family. You won’t find the OM115LD-XSP2 getting returned because it didn’t work for the class setting, or the student doesn’t want it anymore, or even because it doesn’t do what they need it to do. They get it all.
For more pictures of this student microscope as well as information on buying, you can do so from here: OM115LD-XSP2
What do you think of my top picks of 2014’s back to school season student microscopes? Leave me a comment or a message–I’d love to hear from you!
I’m looking for a microscope that allows viewing of a real fly or a real leaf as well as prepared slides. I looked at the Omano om117L 2-in-one SKU: om117L-KK2. As it allows both specimens and slides. Can you tell me what other microscopes have that dual purpose. I’ve seen some reviews of Celestron microscopes indicating they were cheaply made. In your opinion, of all the microscopes available today, which company makes the most reliable, high quality, precision microscope for the beginning student, but one she can grow with.
Hello Steve, my sincerest apologies for the very late reply. I’ve been busy and mostly out of town, so this took a spot on the back burner for a while. In all honesty, I’m not a huge fan of all in one units. I’d suggest reading over the differences between stereo microscopes and compound microscopes in my educational section here for more details on why, but basically, compound objectives have small apertures (holes) on them to accept light, so lighting solid objects from the top at an angle means only limited amounts of light actually enter the lens. So your high magnification lenses operate suboptimally at best, not at all at worst. Really, you’d want to get a compound for translucent samples, and a stereo for opaque samples.
If you want to get one regardless, personally, I like the AmScope models like these: M158C-2L