I bought my original Zorb for Christmas from another source and fell in love with it. I work in the printing industry and it is a great tool to take to customers to reveiw printing types, defects and details that are difficult to see with a hand held loop. I have shown it to many in the business and have contributed to at least 100 of these being sold. (no Kidding!) As a personal tool, its great for kids, mine have looked at everything possible. I even bought one for my son's sciene teacher at school. Works with Mac and PC with no issues. Highly recommend it! Carson Zorb USB Digital Microscope with 35X Optical Zoom, Safari Green
For me this Zorb was the perfect solution to a long standing problem. The Zorb delivered 100% functional results for me. I've been a stamp collector for over 50 years now, and I collect plate varities (Double Transfers, Cracked Plates, Layout Lines, Position Dots, Relief Breaks), this activity is time consuming. I wanted a new stero microscope as my old one was wearing out, it was very old. I have a scanner, but again its time consuming for my activity. The Zorb is real handy, sets on a home made stand, on my desk, its ready in an instant. The results on my computer monitor is very clear, it gives me an instant 35x look at minute details on engraved stamps. Very easy on my eyes, alot easier than using a microscope. For me it was the perfect solution.
Small enough for our children to manage, fun for spontaneous moments when your child just wants to look at things really close up. I wouldn't say this is a microscope for a serious scientist but it is certainly fun for curious children to explore their world. Great price and quite a durable product which has so far withstood almost a year of use and abuse by two children under 10 and two adults over 40.
The lights are too hot to use for snowflake pictures but it has been fun viewing for insects, rocks, postage stamps, fingerprints, leaves and flowers.
I have to admit. I bought this with really no expectations specifically. I knew it was a lower cost than most of this type of thing, so I just stayed unbiased and didn't let myself expect anything in particular. Opening the box, it was as expected in looks and feel. Looking it over, it seems like it is a well made thing for the money. I placed the CD in the tray and loaded up the software. The software is simple and does not seem to offer allot, but does what it should. It's simplicity is it's strength I think for those that don't really want or need the complex functions. I say that, but not yet really explored all it has to offer.
I wasn't expecting a whole lot in picture quality, but I have to tell ya, if you focus it it has a quite impressive clarity. I did notice that if you put the cups on the lens, it does help you steady over small objects that fit within it. That way, it is much more stable, and you can really focus in on the item. But, it gets real close to it and sometimes I wished I was able to back the power down to see an entire object. I used it to see some opals I have that did fit in the cups, but it was so dang close, I couldn't see the entire stone unless I backed the camera away. However doing that you loose the stability of it being firm on the surface and you are dependent on how stable you can hold it freehand. So, that would have made it nice if it wasn't a fixed zoom so you could select it's zoom level. But then again, this is a limited frills camera, and maybe that expects too much for the cost. So if you need or what those capabilities, spend more and buy one with more features. For the cost of this, it's really not fair to complain about the lack of features. It really would have been nice to have some way to mount it to a small tripod tho for stability in that case. But there is no tripod mounting hole that I have found on it yet.
It is sort of a one hand operation thing, but kind of awkward to point it, adjust focus and snap a picture with one hand, but can be done once you get used to it. Not a big problem but more of a motor control on your part to adjust to. If ya have both hands free, it would be of course easier, but with some practice can easily be a one hand thing.
The biggest plus of this is it's ease of use, and it's really clear picture for this money. Easy to use for a kid. In fact my 13 year old daughter played with it some, and fell in love with it. Awesome choice for kids. It looks well made enough to take the abuse.
For the money, maybe this should be a 5, but I gave it a 4 because I think they could have done small function improvements for the money to make it even a better buy.
Would I buy it again: Absolutly
Is it a value: Absolutly
Could it be improved and stay in or close to it's price point? I think so, but really not a deal breaker.
Would I recommend it? Absolutly, especially if you have curious kids. They would be entertained for hours on end with this thing looking at stuff..
Thanks and God Bless.. - Magnifier - Microscope - Usb Microscope - Science'
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