Here's my newly finished Amscope setup.
It's an upgrade from a pretty old fixed zoom setup I've been using for about 15 years -
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/microscopes/4718828/ . The old one still worked OK, but I found the single light, the mount and the fixed magnification to be limiting. It was time for an upgrade.
The new microscope is part number SM-8TW2-144S. I am not using the LED ring, or the x0.5 or x2 Barlow lenses. The 2x lens is useless for rework, there's no room to work. The 8" afforded when using the 0.5x sounds great, but I found that the distance between bench and eyepieces didn't work comfortably for me, and during a rework session I can be at it for several hours at a time. Without either Barlow lens, the working distance is 4". If you add the LED ring, you can take another half inch off, but more importantly, you can't reasonably get the desolder hot air iron in there at a reasonable angle with the LED ring on. So you'll see I've jury rigged a couple of LED goosenecks from the local cheapo store for now, and they work reasonably well, although I might have a go at pimping them up a bit for a few more lumens, they're not running that hot. Prices for "proper" microscope goosenecks are horrendous.
I am only using the 10X eyepieces, so as the zoom range 0s 0.7 to 4.5, and I'm not using any Barlow lenses, the actual range of the scope is x7 to x45 in this configuration. This is fine with the eyepieces, but a bit close in with the 0.5x C mount for the camera. Hopefully the 0.3x C mount will help here.
The monitor is a 13.3" 1920x1080 resolution HDMI monitor designed for roof mount in car entertainment systems: I affixed it to the underside of my shelf. The camera is a 1080p 60fps unit from ebay with a C mount. I used a x0.5 C mount adapter from Amscope, but I've since ordered a 0.3x as the field of view between eyepiece and camera is too much. It's not clear until you really read up a lot that although it's trinocular, the left eye piece is switched to the camera port, although this feature is noted elsewhere in this thread. I don't use the camera unless I'm shooting a video or documenting: despite the near zero latency afforded by going direct to a camera rather than through a PC, it's still not as good as using the eyepieces.
The arm mount is substantial, and best of all I can easily swing the unit out of the way, folding up as I go. I have the mount pivot directly between two desks, so it can be used on either.
The biggest visible difference between this new Amscope and my old microscope is that the field of view can be adjusted with just the knob. Getting the microscope set up so you can simply zoom in and out without having to re-focus takes a minute or so, but there's a knack to it (
http://www.visioneng.com/resources/articles/how-to-correctly-set-up-and-focus-a-stereo-microscope)! I've also found that I can get both the camera port and the eyepieces to maintain focus throughout the zoom range, but it takes a couple of minutes of patience to get it right.
I'm still getting used to it. I will be honest and say that at first, I found it difficult to get used to. It's a bit like climbing into a new car, the controls are subtly and sometimes not so subtly different. Even getting used to the new eyepieces was not without its initial doubts, but I found I adapted quickly. Indeed, I almost put my old microscope back on the bench while I was figuring how to attain a comfortable posture posture, getting the lighting right, the magnification right and being able to get the tools in there. My work rate at first was much slower for a while which was frustrating. Now I've figured out my way around it and become comfortable with it I'm much happier with the setup.
If I bought again, I'd forget about all the extra lenses, just go for a basic 7x to 45x unit, everything else is superfluous to me for day to day use. Changing lenses and working heights to get the 3.5x to 225x range is just to much of a hassle. Not knowing the right questions to ask and not being able to try before buy also means inevitably I wasn't going to make all the right decisions.