Wanna buy a microscope - what magnification level?

[SoftwareEng]

I'd like to buy a microscope for fun and look at microorganisms (including single-cell things), not just hair or dollar bills or whatever silly things people want to magnify

What magnification level would I need to see those organisms clearly? I know this isn't very scientific, but.. =)

thanks

p.s. any brand/model suggestions?

 

[esun]

A cell is about 10um in size, so if you want to magnify that to say 1cm, that'd be a 10^3 increase or 1000X.

 

[SoftwareEng]

thanks Esun!

 

[Auggie]

Most scopes will have a 10x (bi-)ocular set up top, and a swiveling set of objectives down below - try to get something that goes from 10x below to 63x below. Since the bottom objectives will be passed through the top binoculars, that would make the range of the scope 100x to 630x. You can see about getting one with a 100x objective, but chances are, unless you go all out, the 100x objective won't be useful for anything. Hope this helps!