To give a little bit of background, I'm a chemist by trade and I have two little girls. My oldest daughter, probably like most kids her age, is extremely interested in learning about the natural world. Looking back at my own childhood and thinking about how I ended up as a "scientist" as an adult, I credit much of it to the toys that I played with when I was a kid. Most fondly, I remember playing with my microscope for years and years - basically until I way outgrew its capabilities. On a recent trip to my parents house I re-discovered my childhood microscope and wanted to start to play with it with my daughters. Well, I've been spoiled by the professional tools I occasionally use at work. I'm a chemist, but I occasionally get to play around with grainsizing metal samples on a Leica DM6000 microscope (basically a top of the line $60,000 system). I realized that the microscope I had as a kid is a piece of crap.
I really want to purchase something that is as much for me as it is for my children to experience. I remember as a kid always yearning for a "real" scientific tool. I hated the dumb downed/toy-ified versions of the instruments that I received.
Well, so here are the two choices I've come up with:
Accuscope 3000 http://microscopeinternational.com/accu-scope-3000-3001-led-microscope-series
Labomet LX400 http://microscopeinternational.com/labomed-lx400-series-microscope¤cy=usd?gclid=cj2xzurs7bmcfyzm4aodg2oa8a
Both are within striking distance of each other in terms of price (about $1150) with the options that I want (trinocular so that I can add a camera to the scope later and plan optics).
Both, except for aesthetics, seem to be nearly identical to in terms of specifications. Can anyone recommend one over the other? At this price point are there any other microscopes I should be considering?
Anyways, thanks for the help!
Victor
