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Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: I purchased this scope to have something that is easy to carry around and set up, and while using it, if I see something interesting, or notice the night has really good seeing, I would get the more cumbersome scope. So much for the more cumbersome scope. This scope does everything I want it to do. It really has crisp views. It does really well on the planets, clusters, and it is ok on nebulas and certain galaxies. It doesn't have a big field of view, and it doesn't have the aperture you will need if your primary focus is on galaxies, nebulas, but it is such a great scope. The mount is a basic equatorial mount, but because the scope is light, and also important, the scope is fairly short/stubby and not long/lengthy, it is extremely stable. Long scopes cause more shakes, especially when windy. Not a problem with the Starmax 90. Although it is fairly short, it has a long focal length of 1250mm. This is especially great for more detailed views of planets. Orion has a great scope here. I now only use my bigger scope(dob) when I go to a dark site which is not often. I also like using an equatorial mount as it makes for easier tracking. Great scope and super price.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Last evening, we were outside about 10:00pm, with about 25 neighbors, who were oohing and ahhing over the views of Saturn and Jupiter through our StarMax 90mm telescope. Even though we were viewing the planets from a suburban location with light pollution and unsteady air, we were able to make out the Cassini Division in Saturn's rings and also clearly see the Trapezium and the inner core of the Orion Nebula as they were sinking in the western sky. For the price, this telescope is an excellent bargain. We also purchased an optional motor drive for the mount, which really can make observing a lot less tedious. Since the telescope can be detached from the mount, that means the you could use the mount for sky photography with a camera or mounting another small telescope. Also, the StarMax can be mounted on a regular photo tripod for regular daytime viewing. However, you will have to buy an optional imager erector in that case. I have two caveats concerning the mount. First, the control stalks can sometimes get in the way when pointing the scope in certain directions. You can remove that the stalks, but that makes fine tracking control impossible. Second, the optional motor can ALSO get in the way at very inopportune times. I have taken some very pretty videos/photos of the Moon with the Orion color electronic eyepiece. I take the composite output of the eyepiece and record it onto our DV camcorder. From there, I can edit and enhance the recordings on our home computer. The optical quality of the StarMax 90mm appears to be excellent. In fact, it has often given us better views of the Moon and planets than my large Celestron C-8 scope. I also recommend a full aperture solar filter so that you can continue your stargazing during the daytime. There is the added virtue that the whole telescope and mount weigh a mere 16 lbs, which is a heck of a lot easier to lug outside compared to our 50+ lb scope. So, except for a couple of minor complaints, I love this telescope and am very glad that Santa brought it for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Scope at a Great Price
Review: Last evening, we were outside about 10:00pm, with about 25 neighbors, who were oohing and ahhing over the views of Saturn and Jupiter through our StarMax 90mm telescope. Even though we were viewing the planets from a suburban location with light pollution and unsteady air, we were able to make out the Cassini Division in Saturn's rings and also clearly see the Trapezium and the inner core of the Orion Nebula as they were sinking in the western sky. For the price, this telescope is an excellent bargain. We also purchased an optional motor drive for the mount, which really can make observing a lot less tedious. Since the telescope can be detached from the mount, that means the you could use the mount for sky photography with a camera or mounting another small telescope. Also, the StarMax can be mounted on a regular photo tripod for regular daytime viewing. However, you will have to buy an optional imager erector in that case. I have two caveats concerning the mount. First, the control stalks can sometimes get in the way when pointing the scope in certain directions. You can remove that the stalks, but that makes fine tracking control impossible. Second, the optional motor can ALSO get in the way at very inopportune times. I have taken some very pretty videos/photos of the Moon with the Orion color electronic eyepiece. I take the composite output of the eyepiece and record it onto our DV camcorder. From there, I can edit and enhance the recordings on our home computer. The optical quality of the StarMax 90mm appears to be excellent. In fact, it has often given us better views of the Moon and planets than my large Celestron C-8 scope. I also recommend a full aperture solar filter so that you can continue your stargazing during the daytime. There is the added virtue that the whole telescope and mount weigh a mere 16 lbs, which is a heck of a lot easier to lug outside compared to our 50+ lb scope. So, except for a couple of minor complaints, I love this telescope and am very glad that Santa brought it for me.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding performance for a small telescope!
Review: The Orion StarMax 90mm EQ Compact Mak is truly an outstanding telescope for its size. It offers some razor-sharp views of planetary and lunar objects with a minimum of fussing about. My purchase was for my wife (an astronomy teacher) as a Christmas gift. In retrospect, I should have purchased it last year when I was attempting to provide her with a "quick and dirty" portable scope to use along with the school telescope for her frequent night labs (the school telescope is an 8" Celestron). Although we are quite pleased with the Orion SkyView 8 Deluxe EQ purchased last Christmas, it's no less cumbersome than the old Celestron in terms of portability. That's my fault since I was also looking for something we could use at home for deep-sky objects as well. This time, I focused on getting something that was very light-weight and portable but still capable of providing a decent view of lunar and planetary objects. I looked hard at the various refractors but all of them were F/10 or less and offered nothing more in terms of weight and portability. I purchased the basic StarMax 90mm EQ Compact Mak, which includes a decent equatorial tripod mount, Sirius Plossl 25mm eyepiece and a nice padded carrying case for the tube assembly. Given this is a high focal length scope (F/14), I also purchased a set of the HighLight Plossl eyepieces in 7.5mm, 12.5mm and 20mm.. Even though they were about half the price of the scope itself, I justified the purchase in light of the fact we could use these eyepieces with any of the telescopes. On New Year's Eve, we took the scope out for a spin in our front yard (not a great spot given the light interference and high humidity that night). We had a good look at Mars, the Great Nebula in Orion, Saturn and the half-moon. With the exception of Mars, we got incredibly crisp views of the other three objects. Saturn was sharp and clear and at the higher powers we could just make out the banding on the planet. The moon was truly spectacular and offered some gorgeous views along the terminator (area between lunar day/night when viewed from earth) regardless of power. Yes, we get bigger and often better images from the larger scopes but we were both astounded by the capabilities of this little 90mm telescope. My only reservation is with regard to the finder scope. I'd recommend a right-angle attachment since I found it a bit difficult to align the scope and target objects without one. Bottom line is that anyone looking for the best in a small, portable telescope should definitely consider the StarMax 90mm EQ Mak. At about $250, this may be beyond the price range for casual buyers, but the extra investment is well worth it if you're looking at $200 scopes.
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