do you love your Brock magiscope?

[LMD]

I'm in the market for a microscope. To study cells with my 6th & 3rd graders, and for the future.

I like that these are sturdy - I have 3 boys to get through.

I like the kit IV has 400x (I think that's enough for basic cell structure stuff? Not sure, total newbie with this)

I haven't really liked any others I've seen as much.

HSBC has a sale atm, I've done the sums. Just under $400Aud to get it delivered here (Australia).

Worth it?

I could get other microscopes locally for similar prices or less, but I don't like them as much and I'm wary about the quality.

Tia!

[Jackie]

The thing I love most about my Brock is simplicity. I was able to teach my 5yo how to look at prepared slides because the focus is super simple and there really isn't much more to it.

[Eagle]

I love that it gets used because we aren't afraid of it breaking. It is sitting on my kitchen counter right now because last night we looked at onion cells while I was making dinner.

 

It is not as quick to change magnification as other scopes. We tend to pick a magnification for the task and stick with it for awhile. But there are many times (like last night) where we just grabbed it and observed something where a regular scope would have sat in the cupboard.

 

I have the 400x and use it occasionally. You need to add another light source for it to work well with the 400. We use a flashlight, but I am about to order a booklight that clips to the stage. We tend to keep it at 100x for most purposes.

 

We have used the Brock in our yard, have brought it to the beach, and have left it out for days at a time without worrying that the toddler would destroy it. We also own a Celestron attachment that takes the place of the Brock eyepiece and hooks up to our computer to take digital pictures.

[Roseto27]

My guys are younger (oldest is 8), and Grandma gave them a cheap Tasco brand set that came with a telescope, microscope, slides, and slide prep kit. The telescope is ok. The slides are plastic and the prep kit is garbage, honestly. However, the microscope itself has been very impressive for what it is.

 

We have a (different and much higher quality) set of 150 prepared slides and we can see every detail with the Tasco microscope. It has three settings up to 900x. It's made of plastic and obviously a cheaper scope, but it's easy to adjust and serves us very well at this point. Honestly, once I'm looking through it rather than at it there's no difference between this and the (much more expensive) scopes we used in college.

 

The kit was $40 total (maybe a $20 microscope), so I can't see where I'd be ready to replace it with a $400 scope any time soon. And when we do get ready to upgrade, having used this one, I don't think we'll be as tempted to go top of the line. I truly think you be better off looking in the $60ish range for a solid low-end scope. Even if you ended up replacing it twice, you've still spent less than half of what you're looking at now. This is just my $.02, obviously. ;)

Edited March 27, 2016 by Roseto27

[LMD]

Thanks guys!

I've had a cheap one before and it was useless. I am most worried about not being able to see anything clearly and it being too complicated to work out.

I wish that someone sold the Brock here!

[arliemaria]

We also had a cheap one that I picked up at Goodwill.  It worked.  It had slides and other materials in the kit.  It broke pretty quickly.  We replaced the light bulb, etc., but we could not get it to work correctly again.  

 

My son received a Brock from us for Christmas this year.  It is sitting on a shelf near our nature corner in our playroom.  We've looked at salt, ladybugs, snake skin, shells, etc.  My three year old girl is a wild girl and I'm glad that I don't have to worry about her breaking it.  I like that it is compact enough that I can pack it for nature outings this spring.  I plan on taking it to the beach with us and more.  

 

I really do enjoy this very much, but it is not a stereo microscope.  I think we will invest in one of those in middle school.  There are also microscope attachments for smart phones that are REALLY inexpensive.  I think one of those might be a great stocking stuffer for a homeschool mama.  Imagine having a microscope in your purse or diaper bag at all times.  :)