What to look for in a stereo microscope?

[siliconGary]

I am considering getting a stereo microscope. At first glance the choice seems a bit overwhelming, so I am seeking advice from the experts here on what is important for a stereo microscope.

I want it primarily to aid in plucking bond wires ~25 ?m diameter gold wire attached to silicon chips using tweezers. Also looking at PCB solder landings etc and occasional random low mag observations. I have a decent compound microscope (epi-BH2) this is really to help with sample preparation.

Things I know - I don't need a camera (Binocular is fine). Whilst I think a boom stand might be handy very occasionally I don't see it as necessary. I think I want zoom (Many moons ago I used Bausch & Lomb stereo microscopes with zoom on a probing station and found them very good, but I am guessing they are probably out of my price range.) I assume 5x-45x magnification would be adequate for what I want.

So are the OMAX type stereo microscopes good value, or are you better off buying an older professionally targetted stereo microscope? What should I be looking for in a stereo microscope listing?, and what do you think is a reasonable price range for one for my usage?