Levenhuk DTX 50 USB Microscope

The DTX 50 is a USB microscope that plugs into a laptop or desktop computer, which powers it and shows the live picture. It gives 20x to 400x on screen from a 1.3 MP camera, with eight white LEDs around the lens and a removable tripod. It takes no special knowledge to use and is small enough for home use, according to Levenhuk, which makes it a sensible first buy for a beginner with a laptop.

It's for solid things such as coins, stamps and circuit boards, and the included software saves photos and video and measures lengths, perimeters, radii and angles. Levenhuk says it doesn't work as a driverless webcam, so it needs its own software. Focus runs from 0 to 150 mm, so you can rest the lens on a coin for the top magnification or stand it on the tripod over a circuit board for a wider view. The body is rubber-armoured, which gives a steadier grip when you hold it by hand, and power comes down the USB cable, so there's nothing to charge.

In the box are the microscope, the tripod, a lens cap, the software CD, a USB cable and the manual. Our digital microscope guide explains when a USB model like this one is enough and when a model with its own screen is the better buy.

Compared with the DTX 30, it reaches higher magnification with a lower-resolution camera. For slides and pond water you need a compound microscope instead.