Vivitar 28 Piece Microscope Set

Our 7 year old son received this as a gift. Initially the light did not work, however once I realized that the polarity of the one battery was "flipped" from standard, all was well. As is evident by the price level, this is a basic/entry level microscope and not a high end microscope. With patience from both the child and the adult it can provide an exciting introduction to exploring the microscopic world around us at an affordable price. The manual / documentation is very weak. Older children with prior microscope experience would definitely benefit from a higher end instrument.

Awesome for my 8 year old

More like just a ctoy, very difficult to see specimens through. Was very displeased with this product. Even as a toy it should have at least magnified the specimen. The reciepiant of this gift was much less than thrilled.

After reading other reviews, we weren't sure about this microscope. We bought it anyway and are very pleased. We haven't had any problems with it at all and it has worked wonderfully. This was originally for our 8 year old daughter but we can't pry it away from our 14 year old son. Our whole family has been looking at cool stuff from around the yard. You have to understand that this is basically a toy (for less than $20 shipped)and not designed for a scientific medical lab! This is an inexpensive way for kids to get started. WORTH THE MONEY.

I have not received this order yet. It is over due. Please check to see what happened. I would still like to receive it.

Came with a corroded battery terminal. I did not work. Was a Christmas present. Kid was devastated!

One star is one too many!This was a gift for my granddaughter-First off, it didn’t come with any instruction booklet or warranty.That being said, I am a licensed veterinary technician who knows her way around a microscope quite well.Of course I would never expect this toy to perform anywhere near the quality of a lab scope, but I would expect one to be to see something!You can see things alright, you can see debris in the field with nothing under it!Clean objectives ( lenses) and lighting etc..Everything is plastic and the objective lenses are off center 😣When attempting to use a “slide”( cheap plastic junk) you cannot focus with exception of one power and that is iffy.The field is scattered with so much artifact you cannot tell which is the slide material and which is the artifact.So- I contacted the company to explain this, explained in detail and even sent photos ofeverything- my idea.I gave them all the information they requested and it still wasn’t enough.I told them it was a gift and that I didn’t have the receipt- the gifter lives out of the country and is my sons friend.They keep messaging me back asking for the SAME information and telling me I must pay to ship it back and they will try to FIX it- (this is after I told them it isn’t fixable, it’s junk)I just want a working replacement for my granddaughter!It will cost me more to ship this junk back than it’s worth!I asked for a shipping label and they are refusing!I deal with many reputable companies and never once has one refused a shipping label!They told me is is their “warranty policy” - I told them I wouldn’t know since the kit came with NO PAPERWORK!Others have said the same thing! 😡It shouldn’t matter, I am a senior- we purchased many Vivitar products over the years, back when they were a reputable company!NEVER AGAIN!I do NOT recommend this junk!Spend a few more dollars and get something that’s not plastic that actually works as intended!

My kid got this as a present for Christmas. Within 5 minutes, both light bulbs had burnt out and it was useless. There's no contact information for the company. Their website has no information about it. After some digging, I found that this is made by a different manufacturer and the few reviews I found after searching them led me to other people who had the exact same experience. Of course, watching our son's heart break after his present broke meant that we needed to replace it. After much research, we just purchased the "My First Lab Duo" microscope and are amazed at the difference. It's a product made for kids that will last a long time and provide the type of experience we'd hoped they'd get from this one. Vivitar should be ashamed their name is associated with this.