Andonstar AD246S-M or AD407?

[midix]

I have had weak vision since birth. I'm a programmer; electronics is a hobby. I'm not soldering any SMD but just PCBs for plugging in Arduino modules and also doing occasional other small repairs and mods (headphone jacks etc.).

Most folks would do well enough with plain magnifying glasses for soldering Arduino-related stuff, and I have a few magnifying glasses, also fixable on a stand. Also, I have dentist-style eyeglasses.

However, focus distance and occasional movement are huge problems. I need to move the glass or lean myself in so close that my soldering iron can get caught by the magnifying glass or my eyepiece. For the eyepiece - a slight head movement, and I lose focus.

So I wanted to buy a "good enough" digital microscope. I found three affordable options under 200 EUR.

AD246S-M
153 EUR

AD407
153 EUR

AD208
80 EUR

As I understand, AD208 is an old model with a 2MP camera, so I'd better avoid that, right? However, it has focus range specified 1cm-16cm. Soldering at 16cm might be OK, if only the magnification is good enough at that distance.

AD407 says only Focus range: Minimum 5cm. No maximum specified! Why...
AD246S-M - focus range depends on the lens and can be up to 32cm.

But the pricing of AD246S-M and AD407 confuses me. Why do they both cost the same if AD246S-M seems to offer so much more?
AD246S-M has three lenses and a bunch of other bundled stuff. Also, the advertised working distance is larger, which is great to have enough space under it ... unless it is too large, and then I would hold my head too high for sitting and soldering. I don't need the lens for microscopy; not sure about the other two lenses - which one would be the best for soldering.

Also, I cannot find the resolution of the AD246S-M sensor. If it's a 2MP one, that might explain the price when compared to AD407 4MP.

So, where's the catch? Does AD407 offer something much superior over AD246S-M, so that it makes AD407 worth 153 EUR without those additional lenses?

[KungFuJosh]

Those questions don't tell you the whole story. You need to buy one or both of the better options and see how they work for you.

I have the AD208, and it's fine for what it is. However, I don't run it at maximum resolution because there's screen lag if I do. That's a HUGE issue if you're soldering with it. I would read reviews for the models you're interested in and see if people say anything about lag or focus issues.

The other issue is, that any of these single screen magnifiers lack depth perception, which can also be an issue. You might want to look at proper magnification if you can budget it. Maybe look at some stuff from AmScope.

[Messtechniker]

When working under a dissecting microscope*, two arm rests are very important.
How do I know? Did some extracting of salivary glands from
3 day old larvae of Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). Magnification was x20 for this.

*Note that optical microscopes do not introduce a delay.

[midix]

Now I looked at reviews and AD246S-M seems a better choice for the price because it can be easier adjusted to have more working height below it. Digging deeper into the Andonstar website, I found that AD246S-M sensor resolution was mentioned in their accessories, and it seems to be 4MP. So, still strange how are they selling AD246S-M with all the bundled stuff for the same price as AD407.

I wish I had a way to try out any scopes in real life, but I live in a small town and have no friends with similar interests (so they sometimes end up bringing their broken electronics to me  )

My stereoscopic vision is "broken" anyway; at least vision tests revealed that my left eye always tries to take over and my right eye rarely contributes to the depth perception. Curious fact - I also didn't perceive 3D depth when looking at an Alioscopy 3D display demo, while my friends were amazed and waved their hands at the objects that seemed to come out of the screen. So, I guess, a monocular scope would be good enough for me, since my brain is used to calculating depth another way.

Regarding the delay, AD246S-M reviews did not complain about it when using the built-in display or HDMI. Only USB connection is delayed, but I won't be using that.

The stand and the lens system of AD246S-M was criticized for being worse than the other options (also mentioned in this forum) - buying an industrial-like camera with a C-Mount zoom lens and then attaching it to a desk mount. But that is more complex to set up, has no bundled display, and also is not portable. I don't have a permanent work desk for electronics, so I need to put all my stuff away sometimes.

I wish there was something like AD246S-M for the same price minus the base plate plus mounting at the edge of the desk, minus the bundled biology stuff and microlens, plus a normal zoom lens (but still compact enough to tuck away) and a ring light. But I could not find such options for about the same price.

[KungFuJosh]

You should also see if you can get a deal on the AD249S-M. The 10" screen is worth it.

[midix]

I've heard some reviewers say that 7" is the sweet spot for portability/convenience for simple tasks. Maybe later I would buy an additional small display and connect it to the scope through HDMI.

Additional factor - Andonstar 10" displays cannot show the image on the screen and HDMI simultaneously. 7" displays don't have this limitation.

[DaneLaw]

UHD video with a 4mpix sensor?? (AD407) and 12Mpix pictures from a 4mpix sensor..
Crude on the fly upscaling, and can you even have confidence in that its a 4mpix sensor?
What sensor do they use?