Planet Toys Planet Earth Digital Microscope Kit

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Microscope and web cam can be connected to the computer for display on screen and saving images The Bad: Image quality could have been sharper and with more resolution In a Nutshell: Toy microscope for children offers educational fun, letting them explore their curiosity At a Glance Ages: 6 and up Requires: 3 AA batteries

The Digital Microscope enables children ages 6 to explore the world around them. View larger.

We put in the prepared slide of a flower petal and turned the focusing ring until we saw it show up in the microscope as a pretty random pattern of spiked edges. With three magnification levels at 100x, 300x, and 900x, we were able to take three distinct looks at the petal.

Although the microscope provided loads of fun, we did notice a couple shortcomings. First, the eyepiece of the microscope was very small, making it difficult to peer into and, second, although made out of metal, the base still felt slightly unstable. Nonetheless, these minor issues certainly did not prevent us from using the microscope, but did detract slightly from the overall user experience.

Web Cam Lets You Connect Microscope to Computer
Included in the Digital Microscope Kit is a web cam that can be used to observe large objects that don't fit under the microscope. In addition, by simply screwing on an adapter and installing the included software, you can connect the web cam directly onto the top of the microscope, letting you see the microscopic images on your computer screen. This is, of course, a toy microscope so we didn't expect professional results, but we still wish that the images on screen could have been a little clearer. Additionally, because there is a split-second delay to send the information from the microscope to the computer, it can be difficult to focus.

Once connected to your computer, you can take photos and capture videos of all everything you are looking at under the microscope by simply clicking a button.

Create Calendars, Cards, Posters, and More!
With the images you save, you can easily create calendars, cards, and other projects. Since the software includes templates, creating a project book is as easy as dragging and dropping images into the predefined spaces.

The software requires Windows 98/ME/200/XP or above, a Pentium 200MHz processor or faster, 64MB of RAM or higher, a video card with 4MB of RAM minimum, 24-bit display, a CD-ROM drive, and an available USB port.

Activity Booklet Helps Get You Started
An included activity booklet includes six projects to help novices get started. These activities include observing leaves, pond water, and crystals. The kit includes eight prepared slides with items such as an ostrich feather, aloe gel, celery, and tree bark. And of course, you can get anything you want and place it on an empty slide to look at it in full detail with the microscope. The included tweezers and plastic bags lets you handle your slides carefully so you'll be sure to get a good specimen.

What's in the Box
Digital microscope, detachable web cam with USB cable, stand for web cam, eight prepared slides, eight blank slides, eight slide covers, tweezers, four plastic bag, activity book, software CD-ROM.

Included web cam can be used to observe large objects that don't fit under the microscope. View larger.

Or you can attach the web cam to the microscope and view the images on your computer screen. View larger.