I'm not the best at writing reviews -but I'll try.
It was packed well and arrived quickly from the seller. It sat in the box for a couple of weeks before I had a chance to set things up. First, I couldn't find any instructions. It was simple enough to figure out how to put it together -but instructions would be nice for those who aren't mechanically inclined. I purchased this for home use to magnify various things I'll work on throughout the years.
The articulating arm has much to be desired. It works, it's somewhat stable...but smoother operation would be great. It does stay fixed in place when you tighten the arm down. Mine seemed to be tensioned well and with the scope in it, it seemed balanced when unlocked. I didn't notice that it tried to rise or drop when it wasn't locked.
Optically, it works as advertised. You get a nice clear image when viewing things with the supplied eyepieces. There are a total of four. There is a set for different magnifications. It only comes with two rubber eyecups that you'd swap out with the different eyepieces. These are beneficial so you don't grease up the glass with oils from your skin or eyelashes. You can easily space the eyepieces closer together or away from each other depending on the spacing between your eyes...which is a nice feature on an inexpensive instrument.
The supplied light ring is nice. It comes with an adapter that allows you to increase or decrease the amount of light. While I haven't really had a lot of time to view different objects with it, I may make some type of diffuser ring so objects don't have so much glare on them. Since they're LED's, they run cool and provide more than enough light.
Now the camera... It provides an image. It's hard to get perfect focus, but it can be achieved with some patience. Why does the camera suck? Maybe it's not the camera...maybe it's the supplied software -I haven't determined. At a lower resolution, the frame updates are much faster as there is less data to be transferred. It's easier to work with focusing and positioning at a lower resolution. At high resolution, the update rate is horrible...a couple of frames per second at the most. It is difficult to focus when you have to pause for a clean frame. There is no way to lock the camera in place...so if you move the head around and the USB cable gets tugged on, the camera rotates -which in turn causes the image to update itself slowly on screen. I may fix this at a later date by drilling a hole in the column and threading it for a small set screw.
In order to use the camera, you must pull the silver lever out on the left side of the unit. This disables the left eyepiece while the camera is in use. If you wish to have the camera in focus with the eyepiece, rotate the column below the camera to raise or lower it while observing the image on the computer until you're happy with it.
Software comes on a 3.1" (8cm) CD...at least mine did. If you have a slot loading CD/DVD drive, do not attempt to insert it! Make a duplicate on a regular sized CD if this is the case. Other wise, load the driver, connect the camera and install the software. I believe the software only works on a Windows based machine...there are emulators on the market that allow you to run Windows on a Mac or on Linux if you have to.
Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase. It was under $1,000, and I didn't expect top of the line optics or a stellar camera. It should provide many years of trouble free operation.
If by any chance you are doing electronics work with this and happen to be soldering directly under the lens... Get a blower or something to prevent the smoke from the solder from floating upwards onto the glass elements...this is the fastest way to screw things up. If you spent $1,000 on this device, spend another $60 for the Weller WSA350 smoke absorber.
I couldn't tell you where to go for support on the camera, software or scope. By all means, make a duplicate of the disc anyway in case you lose the original.
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