April 15th, 2009
Review: Brando's 200x USB Microscope
If you’re looking for a USB microscope that works with Mac OS X on the cheap, look no further.
The Brando 8 USB Digital Microscope (PN: ULIFE022500) features a 1.3MP image sensor, 10 to 200x magnification and a maximum video resolution 1280×1024.
Compact USB microscopes are excellent for looking at coins, stamps and other exonumia. I’ve seen them selling for upwards of $200 at coin shows, but you can get one from Brando for only $75.
It is ideal for various applications such as science and engineering work and study, dematology (skin/scalp) exam, detailed repair, assembly and quality control (i.e. eletronics, mechanical, etc.), hobbies and collecting (coin, stamp, watch, jewelry, etc.), law enforcement (counterfeit ID, crime lab, etc.), entertainment or simply as a reading aid.
The Brando scope only comes with Windows software but I found a Mac driver from BigC (DinoScope v4.0, released 4/10/2008) that works well with 10.5.6. The Mac driver allows you to capture video (and sound) and has a funny option to “Regord Without Hogging Machine.” The DinoScope 4 driver doesn’t provide a way to capture stills but you can always use the Mac’s built-in screenshot utility (Cmd-Shift-4).
A decent flexible stand for the microscope can be can be found for around $39 but I prefer the GorillaPod original ($20, pictured) from Joby.
Lots of sample pictures are on the Brando Web site and I’ve posted a shot of the new 2009 Lincoln Log Cabin cent after the jump.
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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