hand held microscopes

[mary]

while looking on Amazon this morning for some Christmas present inspiration (i have this same trouble every year )
i came across lots of hand held microscopes, all at what seemed to be very reasonable prices,in the region of £10/£15
and i was wondering if they would be suitable for use for looking at fungi spores etc,
has anyone tried these sort of microscopes out for fungi and are they any good ?

[tapinela]

not sure what the newer ones are like ? but i tried one of then a long time ago, and it was next to useless for viewing spores with
i gave to the local school for the kids to use in the end

[mal71]

i know someone who used one for inspecting flower parts. but with very limited success i believe ?

[ashgale]

i had one some years ago, it was absolutely no good at all for inspecting fungi spores with, as the magnification was nowhere near good enough,
i think you need a microscope with a x 400 or even x 1000 magnification and oil immersion (A.F.A.I.K) those little usb hand held ones come nowhere close to that kind of specification so while cheap they would not be at all suitable in my view Mary.
i cant really advise you on any particular microscope myself, but a search on the web should provide you with lots more info if you are considering the purchase of one for yourself,