When it comes to the image quality, the already limited documentation from Andonstar is somewhat vague. The Andonstar AD407 (right) next to its (slightly) smaller sibling. While in most cases it was reasonably comfortable to work with the 5” screen of the older model, in our lab we nevertheless connected an external 10” monitor via HDMI for the more detailed fine work.įigure 1. The screen diagonal for the LCD of the new model is more than 5 cm (2') bigger, which is an enormous improvement. When you put the two microscopes side-by-side ( Figure 1), the difference in screen size is immediately obvious. Regarding the implementation and price, this new microscope is closest to its predecessor, the ADSM302, and for this reason the characteristics and specifications of the AD407 are compared to this model and the other models are not considered here. What changes has the manufacturer made that justifies the existence of number five? There are already four different models in the Elektor Store, and there is now the next version: the Andonstar AD407. With every new addition to the Andonstar family that has progressively become available, a few things were changed, added and improved – you would expect that by now a point has been reached at which a new model is little more than ‘more of the same’. Quite quickly this manufacturer followed up with models that had a built-in LCD, which removed the necessity (partially) of a connection to a computer: an enormous improvement.

For me, the first time I saw one that started to look like it could actually be useful, was when the Andonstar A1 arrived on my work bench: finally an affordable and reasonably stable microscope that you could connect to a PC via USB, so that you could manipulate and inspect your circuit boards and soldering workmanship.

Andonstar microscope review