am currently taking a number of medical courses that require extensive slide prep and wanted to have one at home to review my slides so I went with that option and decided to give it a try. Usage: General usage is fairly easy and being familiar with scopes I had no issues during the setup process. When it came to actually using the microscope, this is where I ran into the most problems. First, please note that you CANNOT see bacteria properly with this microscope. I have tried every possible magnification and adjustment of the amount and power of light, but nothing allowed me to see my bacterial E. coli slide that I had prepared (I have photos of the prepared slide on my light microscope in the lab compared to each level of magnification added for the same slide). on this microscope - it's day and night and terrible). For larger specimens (blood cells, plant cells, protozoa, epithelium and cross-sections of plants) this microscope performs quite well. I have included photos of the samples that were not bacteria and how they can be seen on this microscope. Some didn't focus properly at the 1000x total magnification (40x lens + 25x lenses), so that too was a coincidence. The biggest problem with observing is how easily the lenses get dirty. I hadn't used the microscope for more than 15 minutes and debris was already stuck in the lenses. Difficult to clean as the lenses are not rounded at the ends for easy cleaning like others do. These dig inward, making cleaning virtually impossible, making cleaning difficult. I hadn't used the microscope for more than 15 minutes and debris was already stuck in the lenses. Difficult to clean as the lenses are not rounded at the ends for easy cleaning like others do. These dig inward, making cleaning virtually impossible, making cleaning difficult. I hadn't used the microscope for more than 15 minutes and debris was already stuck in the lenses. Difficult to clean as the lenses are not rounded at the ends for easy cleaning like others do. These dig inward, making cleaning virtually impossible, making cleaning difficult. Function: The overall functional concept of the microscope is available. The table clamps are readily available to ensure your slide does not move. However, since there are no mechanical table knobs, you can't really attach them if you have to constantly move the slide to find your sample. The light function to observe opaque objects on stage was pretty pointless. Unless you're simply looking at the stage without the microscopic lenses, it serves as a tiny desk lamp. I wasn't able to observe any kind of illumination through the lenses, so including them was a waste. The light source for viewing the slide underneath is also bright, but not as bright as other comparable microscopes in the same price range. Additionally, overall the microscope is nice. It's a nice item for beginners who haven't used a microscope before and really want to learn the basics and see some cells, bugs, plants, or tissues. The set contains everything you need to get started. However, don't expect this microscope to do anything complex or reliable for viewing bacteria. Overall I rate this item 3 stars as some things still need work.