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Be advised that there are many inferior quality microscopes today that are made to look like a Swift microscope. Often, they are less expensive, but are not “Student-Proof” and will not hold up over time.
To guarantee that you are getting a Quality Instrument, it is important to look for the following features in the microscopes that you are evaluating. These features are a testament to the integrity of the manufacturer with regard to their products and services.
- State of the art DIN objectives (now the standard, and are easier to repair).
- Parfocality, Parcentrality enables the user to switch optical powers and keep the specimen still within the field of view with minimal fine focus adjustment.
- Student-Proof features like locked-on stage clips, eyepieces, locked-in or one-piece eyetube, slip clutch focusing system to protect the gears from over-focusing, teacher-controlled stage tension control (ours has a C-wrench that gives teacher sole control over stage tension adjustment).
- Adequate plate on bottom (make sure edges are not sharp and wires are not exposed).
- UL-Approval not only guarantees safe operation for the user, but and is a well-reputed quality and standard for electrical instruments and requires a substantial commitment by the manufacturer of time and money.
- Smoothness of rotating head (make sure it doesn’t grind or stick).
- Spring-loaded 40 + 100X objectives (necessary to protect cover glass and slide from damage).
- All-metal internal parts are what will guarantee that a microscope can withstand the wear and tear of constant student use.
- Patented features assure that the manufacturer is willing to invest in their product designs.
- Parts availability - ask your repair/maintenance technician if parts are easy to get from the manufacturer. If you can't get parts, an incomplete microscope becomes unusable.
- Lifetime Warranty - on defective parts and workmanship for the natural life of the instrument. You will notice that most microscope companies only offer a 5-year warranty. To be able to back up a lifetime warranty, a company has to be committed to customer satisfaction and inventorying parts from every microscope they have made.
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