Wonderful concept, woeful celestron service - Celestron PentaView LCD Digital Microscope

The Pentaview is a great concept. Sharing the view, putting it up on a large screen, taking pictures and videos. Wonderful!

But it has to work. Out of the box, my adapter was dead. The scope worked on batteries, but when I reported the problem, it took Celestron ten days to respond. Then they insisted on receiving the entire microscope before they would service it. I would have expected a new adapter in my mailbox three days after I reported the issue, and an apology. TWO MONTHS after I spent hundreds on this, I have a working microscope only because I found my own adapter. I must point out that a main feature of their knowledgebase is adapter specifications - must happen a lot.

I was so excited by this idea, and so disappointed by Celestron's support. There is clearly a quality issue, and it is even more clearly overwhelming their poorly guided support organization.

From a usage perspective, it mostly works as advertised. The upper light might as well not exist - it has no effect - you really can't use this to view opaque items like paper or small objects. But using the video cable to view the image on a big screen is outstanding. Too bad it can't be trusted to work, and Celestron does not stand behind it in an intelligent, respectful way.
Pros: Sharing the view, taking pics and vids
Cons: Out-of-box failure, two month wait for service

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.