You can get a decent pocket magnifying glass for $10. If you want to look at any cellular structures, I don't think there's a way around slides and bottom-up l

You can get a decent pocket magnifying glass for $10. If you want to look at any cellular structures, I don't think there's a way around slides and bottom-up lighting. Fortunately, preparing slides is actually fun ;-) Also, all serious microscopy I know is done like that (unless you're using stereo microscopes for entomology), so one might as well learn how to do it properly.