I really like this little digital microscope because it's self illuminated, and it has quite a few ways to use it.It's pretty easy to get started in the standard mode, just turn it on and it lights up and uses the default zoom. Then, just place it over whatever you want to look at and you get a decent image without needing to focus. That said, the object needs to be on a flat surface. If there's some depth to your object, you may need to lift it a bit off the surface to make sure it stays in focus. I would've preferred that you had some sort of screw support to raise the microscope a little bit at a time, but it's really not that hard to hold it still long enough to see whatever you needed to see.I also like the fact that you can plug it into a computer and it gives you an option to view the display in real time as a webcam. To do this select the "Computer Observation Mode" option after plugging in the cable. Then you can capture it using a program like QuickTime (on a Mac) or any program that can use a webcam.It also supports a MicroSD card, so you can capture images and copy them to your computer. I captured some images without using the card, and they were stored internally, but for some reason when you select the Card Reader mode, it doesn't seem to let you capture those images to your computer, or I would've posted the picture I took. So, it looks like if you want to copy images to your computer, you should either use the Webcam mode, or use a MicroSD.

I got this for my daughter, 10yo. Its exactly as described. Great for little ones that like to explore!