A Magnificent Magnifier! Apollo Full Page 2X Magnifier
Written: Dec 08 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Scratch resistant material, easy to use, great for working with miniatures.
Cons: Magnification might not be strong enough for some people.
The Bottom Line: Crossword puzzle lovers, map junkies, dollhouse aficionados and more can benefit from this easy to use full page magnifying sheet.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Apollo Full Page Handheld Magnifier 2X Magnificati... |
When the brood first starting getting interested in ancient Egypt, hieroglyphics and cartouches I purchased them all inexpensive hand help plastic magnifying glasses. At the time they were all in that stage when things either broke ‘for no reason’ or turned up missing so I wasn’t about to spring for the more expensive $10.00 a piece magnifiers with the small light up lens. Now that they are older and branching out into their own areas of Egyptian studies I picked up several of the full sized magnifying sheets for them to use when reading various maps and floor plans of the pyramids that would otherwise be too difficult to read. Before this purchase I had picked up the smaller version [5 x 7] and this sized was great for small or half page illustrations but it got a little difficult for them when they were dealing with full page maps – essentially they had to move the sheet several times when studying a map and often got lost and had to backtrack their steps.
Apollo Full Page Magnifier
Measuring a fill eight and a half inches by eleven inches, this flexible but extremely durable magnifier is a must have for anyone that does a lot of reading, uses maps on a regular basis or does any small scale craft work. As much as I hate to admit it, my eyes aren’t what they used to be and when I work on a cross-stitch design, this is an absolute necessity. All I have to do is plop it on the canvas, count out the blocks and move on. This is also great for large crossword puzzles with those tiny little blocks, television listings and fine print on contracts. There’s no distortion if its held less than six inches from the image – anything more than that and things tend to get a little blurry. This is best used directly over a flat surface and held between a half inch to three inches over a page or piece of paper.
The real beauty of this magnifying sheet is that you can’t break it. I am sure that if you tried hard enough you could damage it or crack it but you would really have to exert some force to do so. It is slightly flexible but will not bend more than an inch or so. Some of the less expensive full sized magnifying sheets are completely flexible and while this might be seen as a perk at first, over time it will damage the sheet and distort the image that is being magnified. This will only double what you are seeing so if you need something that will enlarge things to a higher degree, this isn’t the product for you. For day to day general use though, this is more than adequate. If I had to voice one small complaint about this is would be that it is a little hard to lift up off a page or piece of paper if you don’t have fingernails. Even so, all that is needed to lift it up is to slide it to the edge and pop up a corner. The large size – 8.5 x 11 – makes it easy for everyone to use, especially those with wrist and hand ailments.
You might not think that a magnifying page could be dangerous but there are a few precautions that should be noted. Don’t leave this in the path of direct sunlight, even though this is only has a 2X power of magnification, it can heat things up and cause a dangerous situation. The surface is smudge proof but should be cleaned occasionally with a wet paper towel to remove any dirt or grease from fingers. I don’t use any type of cleaner or soap on it since I am sure that this will cloud or mar the surface in some way. Any ink or lead that gets on the surface comes off easily proving that it’s wiped off as quickly as possible. The only ink that I had any real trouble with was the Sharpie markers but after a few good wipes with hot water, it came right off.
The Bottom Line
So far this has been a great tool for the boys to use for their maps, studying cartouches and hieroglyphics. They used this almost non-stop when they were building their plaster pyramid and it came in really handy when they wanted to paint on their own symbols and designs. For me, this is a true necessity when reading the Thomas Guide [street map], reading the codes for VCR Plus and older recipe books that I swear were created to make you go blind. This is an inexpensive but extremely durable product that can be used by almost everyone. For around eight dollars you can pick up one heck of a handy magnifier that will outlast almost every other one on the market. The perfect gift for heavy readers, crossword enthusiasts and scale model builders!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2003 Freak369
Other office essentials …
Pentel Forte Automatic Pencil
Smead SpaceBox
Pentel R.S.V.P. Ballpoint Pens
Oxford Blank 4 x 6 Index Cards
Bic Brite Liner Highlighters
Recommended:
Yes
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