Review: EyeClops Multizoom Bionic Eye Plug-In TV Microscope
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/02/2009 (6365 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
(Evergeek) – A short-lived but totally enjoyable, kid-friendly, handheld microscope, Jakks Pacific’s EyeClops Multizoom Bionic Eye Plug-In TV Microscope (identity crisis much?) is a simple but effective battery powered (5 AAs not included) magnifier that jacks directly into the composite video input (the yellow one) on any TV.
It will then display any targeted item at 100x, 200x or 400x its normal size. As anyone who’s used a microscope before, enlarged results vary between really cool or really gross, which is also really cool. But gross. Bugs. Eeeeew.
The fact that it displays all that on the TV for all to see can make for a big, fat, collective “eeeeew!” which makes it that much more fun.
Getting the thing to focus is a pernickety affair, but once you find a hold-steady spot and get it reasonably focused on one item, you can swap out others with only minor focus tweaks.
Speaking of which, though the thing looks ripe for some point-and-shoot zoom-lens fun – what with the gun-like grip and all – it is just a microscope and it must pretty much sit right on top of the subject to be enlarged. Why it’s gun-shaped is anyone’s guess; you can’t hold it like a pistol and effectively work it at the same time. Hint: hold it like a giant eyeball with a useless hilt sticking out of it. Sure looks manly, though.
That said, power it up and plug it in and anything goes – or just about anything, anyway… anything on hand but within reach of the EyeClops’ 8-foot cord. Best to set up shop on the coffee table and bring stuff to it; your shoelace, mom’s tooth, dad’s penny (cheap bastard), the dog’s fleas or the fine print on the flea shampoo that says “keep away from children” (oops).
EyeClops Multizoom Bionic Eye Plug-In TV Microscope isn’t the type of toy you leave plugged into the TV for days, weeks, or years. It makes for a messy tangle of greenery and cheap plastic shortly after everyone tires of the novelty of it all, which seems to be about 2 hours of non-stop microscoping, then poof! Boring.
However, as a science toy you bring out of storage for the odd rainy-day distraction every month or three, EyeClops is inexpensive enough to do the trick.
Final Score: 3 (out of five)
Platform(s): TV Plug-n-Play Publisher: Jakks Pacific CDN Price: $39.99
