Back in 2010, I thought those cheap USB microscopes from China were just useless toys.

I bought a $30 one from a seller in Shenzhen on a whim, expecting junk. It ended up being my go-to for checking solder joints and trace damage on phone boards for years, way before the pricier brands caught on. Anyone else have a tool they wrote off that turned into a workhorse?

3 comments

3 Comments

harperreed18d ago

What finally killed that cheap microscope?

simonb9214d ago

Remember my nephew trying to look at a bug with it.

hollyg5918d ago

I mean, was it the plastic gears stripping out? I had one where the focus knob just spun freely after a while, like the tiny teeth inside got ground to dust. Maybe it's just me but that always seems to be the weak point on those budget models. The optics were actually kinda okay for the price, but the build quality was a total joke. So yeah, I'm betting it was a mechanical failure, not the lenses.