The biological microscopes, also called compound microscopes are for those who are interested in biology study. The typical powers are 40x-400x, 40x-800x, 40x-1000x, 40x-1600x or 40-2000x with 4-8 levels of magnifications. You will need to buy or make slides to use these microscopes since the microscope has only the light on the bottom and the slides will allow the light going through the samples.

It's not for the everyday life items, e.g. rocks, coins, plants, insects that will block the light and you are not able to see the details on the surface. Also, for any sample that is not flat, even it's transparent, it's difficult to focus with a depth at high powers. You will need to choose a stereo microscope, or so called low power / 3D microscope since they are at low powers with the light on the top (some models also have the additional light on the bottom).