Planet Toys Planet Earth Digital Microscope Kit
from: Planet Toys
List Price: $49.99
Prices subject to change.
Price: $16.72
You Save: $33.27 (67%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Description:
Planet Earth Toys are designed to evoke children's natural curiosity to explore and learn about our extraordinary world.Includes everything you need to magnify nature.Observe and learn about planet earths microscopic world, use the webcam to create a snapshot of your slide, and connect the webcam to the microscope and view objects on your computer.The all-in-one digital microscope, digital camera, microscope and web cam!
Amazon.com Review:
The Digital Microscope from Planet Earth Toys will have children ages 6 and up enjoying themselves while exploring the world around them. Designed to evoke natural curiosity, children can look up close at plants, animals, water, and more, through the microscope eyepiece, or on the computer screen with the included web cam attachment.
Digital Microscope with Three Magnification Levels
The Digital Microscope set requires three AA batteries (not included). A screwdriver is needed to open up the battery cover, and after they are installed, pushing the on/off button turns on the necessary light.
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.
Planet Earth Toys are designed to evoke children's natural curiosity to explore and learn about our extraordinary world.Includes everything you need to magnify nature.Observe and learn about planet earths microscopic world, use the webcam to create a snapshot of your slide, and connect the webcam to the microscope and view objects on your computer.The all-in-one digital microscope, digital camera, microscope and web cam!
Amazon.com Review:
The Digital Microscope from Planet Earth Toys will have children ages 6 and up enjoying themselves while exploring the world around them. Designed to evoke natural curiosity, children can look up close at plants, animals, water, and more, through the microscope eyepiece, or on the computer screen with the included web cam attachment.
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 The Digital Microscope enables children ages 6 to explore the world around them. View larger. |
The Digital Microscope set requires three AA batteries (not included). A screwdriver is needed to open up the battery cover, and after they are installed, pushing the on/off button turns on the necessary light.
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. |
Features:
- Includes microscope and digital camera
- One eyepiece adaptor, four prepared slides, and eight blank slides
- One pair tweezers and four plastic bags
- One explorer book
- One software CD Rom and one special planet earth CD
Accessories:
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Digital Microscope misleading
Although this product is made for children 6 and up we found it to be very hard to focus. Even the adults had a difficult time with the focusing. Read the box carefully. On the bottom of the box, in very small letters it mentions that the web cam and software are for PCs only. Will not work with a mac. Wish I had known that before purchasing for a birthday gift.
Rating: 
- Good for education
It is fun to use. However, it is hard to pin point the object under
the microscope. But, you will figure it out after a while.
Rating: - unbelievable
Unbelievable crap. Camera is nothing more than a cheap webcam. Doesn't integrate into the microscope. Essentially just sits on top.Fuzzy poor resolution picture.Included software is minimal.Focus on microscope is ineffective. Slides are less than diverse. I fear the frustration of this toy has pushed my daughter further away from learning the joys and miracles of nature.
Also bought Planet Earth's grow a world.Better product but how can you mess up a plastic globe and seeds. ... Read More
Rating: 
- Great experience for my nephew.
It was my choice of a Christmans present for my 7 year old nephew and it was a great choice.He loves it and it will give him many great hours of entertainment.The service and delivery from the time I ordered the item was excellent.
Rating: - Good intro microscope for kids
Every thing works well, but don't expect this to be in par with a real microscope. The webcam works, but fuzzy.
- Digital Microscope misleadingAlthough this product is made for children 6 and up we found it to be very hard to focus. Even the adults had a difficult time with the focusing. Read the box carefully. On the bottom of the box, in very small letters it mentions that the web cam and software are for PCs only. Will not work with a mac. Wish I had known that before purchasing for a birthday gift.
- Good for educationIt is fun to use. However, it is hard to pin point the object under
the microscope. But, you will figure it out after a while.
- unbelievableUnbelievable crap. Camera is nothing more than a cheap webcam. Doesn't integrate into the microscope. Essentially just sits on top.Fuzzy poor resolution picture.Included software is minimal.Focus on microscope is ineffective. Slides are less than diverse. I fear the frustration of this toy has pushed my daughter further away from learning the joys and miracles of nature.
Also bought Planet Earth's grow a world.Better product but how can you mess up a plastic globe and seeds. ... Read More
- Great experience for my nephew.It was my choice of a Christmans present for my 7 year old nephew and it was a great choice.He loves it and it will give him many great hours of entertainment.The service and delivery from the time I ordered the item was excellent.
- Good intro microscope for kidsEvery thing works well, but don't expect this to be in par with a real microscope. The webcam works, but fuzzy.
