Rating: 
Summary: Easy to assemble but not so easy to use
Review: ...The package arrived yesterday and I have no problem putting the stuff together, but I had a hard time finding the star. I tried the auto-align feature, but didn't help much. When it slews to Vegas or Polaris, I only see couple of very faint stars in view. I then manually align it to Mars, doesn't matter which of the 3 lenses I used or the adjustments I made, when in focus, Mars was no bigger than what I see with my naked eyes. When I enlarge it, all I see is a big blur circle. Also, the telescope will wiggle as you use it. When I finally have something aligned in view, scope will wiggle as I turned the focus knob which normally made it out of the alignment. Also, to align the object centered in the Star Finder was impossible for me. With the adjustment turned to the maximum, the object is still above the center of the Finder. I thought this telescope was suppose to be great for beginner, but I guess am even worse than the beginner. :(
Rating: 
Summary: Great performer vs cheap dept. store units !
Review: Agree with other positive posts. Compared to those dept. store units this is a no brainer purchase ! You also get additional eyepieces and these are the 1.4" not the .96" size that the cheap units include.
You can also get the optional pc patch cord and run the scope from your laptop ! Buy 16 nimh aa rechargeable batteries and you'll never run low on battery power for your scope.
Check out this website from the show on PBS !
http://www.jackstargazer.com/
Keep looking up !
Rating:
Summary: Great performer vs cheap dept. store units !
Review: Agree with other positive posts. Compared to those dept. store units this is a no brainer purchase ! You also get additional eyepieces and these are the 1.4" not the .96" size that the cheap units include.
You can also get the optional pc patch cord and run the scope from your laptop ! Buy 16 nimh aa rechargeable batteries and you'll never run low on battery power for your scope.
Check out this website from the show on PBS !
http://www.jackstargazer.com/
Keep looking up !
Rating:
Summary: Great performer vs cheap dept. store units !
Review: Agree with other positive posts. Compared to those dept. store units this is a no brainer purchase ! You also get additional eyepieces and these are the 1.4" not the .96" size that the cheap units include.
You can also get the optional pc patch cord and run the scope from your laptop ! Buy 16 nimh aa rechargeable batteries and you'll never run low on battery power for your scope.
Check out this website from the show on PBS !
http://www.jackstargazer.com/
Keep looking up !
Rating:
Summary: Easy to assemble but not so easy to use
Review: At least I'm a beginner and I'm enjoying it. Very easy to set up and to get aligned. Finds things pretty well with the hand control. Mars looks good, shows some surface detail and the ice cap. The moon looks truely awesome.
I haven't seen any of the deep sky stuff yet, but I haven't yet taken it out into the country for real darkness.
It is a beginner unt though and I already know I'll have to spend much more money on a better one in the next year or so. One suggestion, I found the two star alignment easier to use and more accurate than the auto alignment. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I dunno.
Rating: 
Summary: A good beginner telescope.
Review: At least I'm a beginner and I'm enjoying it. Very easy to set up and to get aligned. Finds things pretty well with the hand control. Mars looks good, shows some surface detail and the ice cap. The moon looks truely awesome.
I haven't seen any of the deep sky stuff yet, but I haven't yet taken it out into the country for real darkness.
It is a beginner unt though and I already know I'll have to spend much more money on a better one in the next year or so. One suggestion, I found the two star alignment easier to use and more accurate than the auto alignment. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I dunno.
Rating:
Summary: Lotsa power for little money
Review: I have always wanted a telescope and when Mars was beginning to approach it's closest distance to earth in 2200+ years, I didn't want to wait 2 more millennia to get one. Amazon delivered the scope just in time for me to view The Red Planet at its closest distance in history. I must say that the viewing was anti-climactic... but not due to the telescope's failings. At its closest, Mars looked like an orange dot with a white dot near the polar cap - fairly flat in appearance. About a week later, when Mars was still relatively close, I went to a public viewing at the Observatory at UNT in Denton, TX. I got to look through a telescope that was so large, it could use this Celestron as a q-tip. :-) It was then that I realized how good m Celestron was - because the viewing at the observatory looked the same as it did with my new, inexpensive telescope! Wee! The moon is absolutely breath-taking, especially with the included moon filter that helps the craters to "pop" with clarity. My less than perfect rating is due to the fact that the included software is for Windows-only. This is frankly inexcusable. There is no reason that the same software could not be made for the Mac platform, especially since Mac OS 10.x is Linux based. Also annoying is the lack of a built-in compass and bubble level. I bought a compass and lined my scope due north and bought a carpenter's level to make sure it was level. I then punched in the date, time and time zone and gave the command for the telescope to auto-calibrate. The motor impressively hummed as the scope automatically turned to find Polaris... but couldn't find it. Then it tried to find another star, and couldn't find that, either. The instructions read like you have just completed a college-level astronomy course (which I have not), so the neophyte will be confused by many of the instructions. With the help of some online web sites, I got some helpful hints that made the use of the scope to be easier. I know that the stars are millions of miles away, but they really don't look any different through the telescope than they do with the naked eye. I wish there was an angle viewer for the laser alignment scope... when you're looking at objects that are right above you, you've got to get into a yoga position to line up the spot scope. The tripod folds up easily, as long as you don't attach the storage triangle below the scope. The battery pack design is totally bizarre. If you want to easily transport the tripod from location to location and opt not to install the storage triangle, there is no where to put the battery pack unless you precariously hang it on the top of one of the tripod legs - and it's way too easy for the cords to get tangled up as you move the telescope from object to object in the night sky. The clip that holds the hand controller is also less than impressive. Any jarring of the tripod and the controller goes flying. The phone-jack like connectors should have had swivels installed so that when you turn the scope the controller doesn't get tangled with the power cord to the battery pack. Also annoying is the fact that the AC adapter is not included, so you have to keep fresh batteries on hand. The spotting scope has a cool laser-like light to help you spot an obect easily before zooming in w/ the compounded lenses - but the battery that operates that scope is not changeable - when it dies (estimated time is 10 years), it's dead and all you can do is either live without it or buy a new telescope. For someone who is totally clueless like me, but still wants to view the night sky, this is a very affordable way to get into a rewarding hobby. Obviously, though, you get what you pay for and the serious astronomer should get the most power they can afford to reap the biggest rewards.
Rating:
Summary: Lotsa power for little money
Review: I have always wanted a telescope and when Mars was beginning to approach it's closest distance to earth in 2200+ years, I didn't want to wait 2 more millennia to get one. Amazon delivered the scope just in time for me to view The Red Planet at its closest distance in history. I must say that the viewing was anti-climactic... but not due to the telescope's failings. At its closest, Mars looked like an orange dot with a white dot near the polar cap - fairly flat in appearance. About a week later, when Mars was still relatively close, I went to a public viewing at the Observatory at UNT in Denton, TX. I got to look through a telescope that was so large, it could use this Celestron as a q-tip. :-) It was then that I realized how good m Celestron was - because the viewing at the observatory looked the same as it did with my new, inexpensive telescope! Wee! The moon is absolutely breath-taking, especially with the included moon filter that helps the craters to "pop" with clarity. My less than perfect rating is due to the fact that the included software is for Windows-only. This is frankly inexcusable. There is no reason that the same software could not be made for the Mac platform, especially since Mac OS 10.x is Linux based. Also annoying is the lack of a built-in compass and bubble level. I bought a compass and lined my scope due north and bought a carpenter's level to make sure it was level. I then punched in the date, time and time zone and gave the command for the telescope to auto-calibrate. The motor impressively hummed as the scope automatically turned to find Polaris... but couldn't find it. Then it tried to find another star, and couldn't find that, either. The instructions read like you have just completed a college-level astronomy course (which I have not), so the neophyte will be confused by many of the instructions. With the help of some online web sites, I got some helpful hints that made the use of the scope to be easier. I know that the stars are millions of miles away, but they really don't look any different through the telescope than they do with the naked eye. I wish there was an angle viewer for the laser alignment scope... when you're looking at objects that are right above you, you've got to get into a yoga position to line up the spot scope. The tripod folds up easily, as long as you don't attach the storage triangle below the scope. The battery pack design is totally bizarre. If you want to easily transport the tripod from location to location and opt not to install the storage triangle, there is no where to put the battery pack unless you precariously hang it on the top of one of the tripod legs - and it's way too easy for the cords to get tangled up as you move the telescope from object to object in the night sky. The clip that holds the hand controller is also less than impressive. Any jarring of the tripod and the controller goes flying. The phone-jack like connectors should have had swivels installed so that when you turn the scope the controller doesn't get tangled with the power cord to the battery pack. Also annoying is the fact that the AC adapter is not included, so you have to keep fresh batteries on hand. The spotting scope has a cool laser-like light to help you spot an obect easily before zooming in w/ the compounded lenses - but the battery that operates that scope is not changeable - when it dies (estimated time is 10 years), it's dead and all you can do is either live without it or buy a new telescope. For someone who is totally clueless like me, but still wants to view the night sky, this is a very affordable way to get into a rewarding hobby. Obviously, though, you get what you pay for and the serious astronomer should get the most power they can afford to reap the biggest rewards.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!
Review: I have owned both reflector and refractor scopes over the years. Unfortunately, they were always cheap store models. This is my first real telescope! The optics are great but the hand held control is awesome!! It is so nice not having to loosen and tighten things to center on objects. It was easy to sight in and it centered M-31 (Adromeda Galaxy) on the 1st try!! I really love the finder scope system also. I centered it during the day and when I went out that 1st night, it worked like a charm. If you have owned alot of cheap telescopes this thing will make you feel like your in heaven!!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!
Review: I have owned both reflector and refractor scopes over the years. Unfortunately, they were always cheap store models. This is my first real telescope! The optics are great but the hand held control is awesome!! It is so nice not having to loosen and tighten things to center on objects. It was easy to sight in and it centered M-31 (Adromeda Galaxy) on the 1st try!! I really love the finder scope system also. I centered it during the day and when I went out that 1st night, it worked like a charm. If you have owned alot of cheap telescopes this thing will make you feel like your in heaven!!
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