Rating: 
Summary: problem with telescope
Review: At the moment I am not able to rate this telescope on anything other than it's quality control. I bought this durable, telescope and after assemblying it with relative ease, I took it out for a first night's use. Immediately I noticed something was wrong with the motordrive. I called Celestron techline and was told that indeed it needed to be serviced. I was instructed to send it at my cost... Upon receiving the telescope back promptly, it appeared that I had been sent back a slightly different hand-controller. I set it up and found it to not only be defective, but a previously used hand controller. I was told that they are upgrading the hand-controllers for this model for whatever reason. Again I was instructed to send the item back at my cost... The technician claimed that the replaced items had been tested prior to being sent, but that could not be true. Also, the initial star-alignment process doesn't seem to be very easy. I have yet to receive back the upgraded hand-controller so I am unable to provide any other details....
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Too much telescope for beginners
Review: Bought this as a gift for hubby. We live with 360 degree view from Sierras to Sacto/Mt. Diablo, etc. but found this too much to figure out. Spent hours with little books that glow to find constellations...much easier than waiting for Celestron 80 to "skew" and then haven't a clue where it is or what it's doing. Mom bought it so will spend precious hours doing a techno. but feels overwhelmed. Suggestions? Classes at JC?
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Too much telescope for beginners
Review: Bought this as a gift for hubby. We live with 360 degree view from Sierras to Sacto/Mt. Diablo, etc. but found this too much to figure out. Spent hours with little books that glow to find constellations...much easier than waiting for Celestron 80 to "skew" and then haven't a clue where it is or what it's doing. Mom bought it so will spend precious hours doing a techno. but feels overwhelmed. Suggestions? Classes at JC?
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice telescope
Review: Having shopped around, a lot, and keeping it below $$$, this is a great telescope. The red diode star finder makes zero-ing in on objects a snap! Really! What a neet invention. This telescope is too easy to set up. And the computer control works great too. For the $$$, this IS a very nice product. My ONLY suggestion is to also order a stronger eyepiece than what comes with it. The two that come with this scope dont do it justice. Mars looks great, and with a stronger eyepiece, you can see the dark bloches/spots on Mars. It wont be like the big close-ups from the hubble, but you'll enjoy what you see. And the moon is so clear and close up, you will feel like you can take a walk on it. The tripod is ok, a little flimsy but does its job. A happy purchase...
Rating:
Summary: Very Impressive!
Review: Here are some things I like about this product:
- easy to assemble, lightweight, and very mobile
- sturdy tripod
- great auto goto feature and easy to calliberate. Can find stars, messier objects, etc, in a matter of minutes. Very cool and slick feature
- decent quality eye pieces
- RS-232 connection is a little tricky, you may need assistance from Celestron to get started there.Here are some things I don't like about this product
- the hand controller wirings and the batter wirings can get all caught up if you are not careful.
- it does not have enough magnification and aperture to see detail of celestial objects other than the moon. It is a great spotter type telescope which may supplement your high powerered manual telescope to cut down time in finding objects
- check all the parts before you setup the telescope, I received damaged, missing parts and had to get replacements
- I was able to find a number of deep sky objects in the sky with this telescope but could not see much detail other than bright dot(s), still it is pretty neat to locate these objects at the touch of a button Another Recommendation
Buy the Dobsonion from Orion. It costs the same amount of money (about [$$$]), it doesn't have the auto goto features like Celestrons, but you get a lot more viewing power i.e. focal length of 1200 mm vs. 400 mm, aperture of 150 mm vs. 80 mm, better view finder etc. Andy
Rating:
Summary: Good Beginner Telescope, But Not for Serious Starters!
Review: Here are some things I like about this product:
- easy to assemble, lightweight, and very mobile
- sturdy tripod
- great auto goto feature and easy to calliberate. Can find stars, messier objects, etc, in a matter of minutes. Very cool and slick feature
- decent quality eye pieces
- RS-232 connection is a little tricky, you may need assistance from Celestron to get started there. Here are some things I don't like about this product
- the hand controller wirings and the batter wirings can get all caught up if you are not careful.
- it does not have enough magnification and aperture to see detail of celestial objects other than the moon. It is a great spotter type telescope which may supplement your high powerered manual telescope to cut down time in finding objects
- check all the parts before you setup the telescope, I received damaged, missing parts and had to get replacements
- I was able to find a number of deep sky objects in the sky with this telescope but could not see much detail other than bright dot(s), still it is pretty neat to locate these objects at the touch of a button Another Recommendation
Buy the Dobsonion from Orion. It costs the same amount of money (about [$$$]), it doesn't have the auto goto features like Celestrons, but you get a lot more viewing power i.e. focal length of 1200 mm vs. 400 mm, aperture of 150 mm vs. 80 mm, better view finder etc. Andy
Rating: 
Summary: Great Scop, You'll love this!
Review: I just got this scope and its wonderfull. I didn't think the telesope would be very accurate, boy was I wrong. Out of 35 objects I asked it to "go to", it missed only one. And that one was just outsid the field of view. Even though its 3.1 inches, many objects appeard bright and detailed. It also tracked the objects perfectly. This is a very good scope. Anyone who has an interest in astronomy should get this scope. Its well worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Very Impressive!
Review: I ordered the Nexstar 80GT from Amazon and it arrived exactly when promised. I opened the box with child-like excitement. Inside was a high quality, good looking telescope. It was incredibly easy to set up. There are only a few easy steps needed to assemble this telescope. Pop in 8 AA batteries and you are on your way. There are a few methods you can use to align the telescope. I found the two star alignment to work best for me. Once aligned you can choose a "tour" that will show you an incredible list of objects to view. Select one, press one button and the telescope comes alive, moving automatically to the chosen object. Some objects are very easy to see and some need tweaking with different magnifications. The clarity of the optics is impressive and you will gasp at some of the views of the planets and open clusters. Even the Orion Nebula is easily visible with this scope. This is a wonderful starter scope. If you want to have fun and explore the sky purchase this scope, you will not be dissapointed. For the amateur astronomer who just wants to check out what is out there from time to time, this is a great scope to do it with. Two minor problems surfaced so far. A little more design effort by Celestron would have made this a five star rating. 1) The power cable has a tendancy to slip out from its connection. This causes the scope to lose power, which in turn requires you to realign the scope. You can easily fix this by using some velcro tape. 2) The battery pack is located on the accessory tray. As the telescope turns, the cable can, and will get tangled if you don't keep a close eye on it. Good luck with your purchase! Clear skies.
Rating:
Summary: Sharp images, poor magnification
Review: I'm a novice as far as telescopes goes. Actually this is my first one. Getting it to work won't take more than 5 minutes (including the unpacking) Assembling it is very straightforward. For terrestial objects I am very happy with it. I was able to see crisp images of objects more than 20 miles away. The hand control is also easy to use. It is a battery eater. And be careful, if you leave the battery pack connected, the next day you will realize they are gone. As far as magnification, I feel a little bit dissapointed. I was able to see Jupiter and 4 of it's moons, also Saturn is visible along it's rings. However the image is so small you'll get a headache after a couple of minutes due to the strain on your eyes. The moon looks great. I was also able to see what I presume was a satellite. It was like a very small lighted dot blinking and moving very fast on the sky for 1 or 2 minutes. Overall it is a good telescope, but if you are a first timer, don't expect to see the planets as big balloons with all kinds of patterns.
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginner Scope - Some Small Annoyances
Review: I've wanted a telescope for years, and finally decided to get one this Christmas. I bought the Celestron Nexstar 80 based on what I deemed as a good compromise between optical capabilities and ease of use. For the most part, I'm very happy with the purchase. Setup could not be easier. I was ready to rumble in minutes. Being a pure beginner, I needed the GOTO functions to help get me started. Within five minutes of bringing the scope outside, I was checking out Saturn's rings and scoping out Jupiter. I even managed to find the Orion Nebula. And I had no idea how to find these things without the scope's help. Now, after only a few days, I can find them on my own - which saves lots of battery life. There are some annoying design problems. As many other reviews have noted, the battery pack is a pain. The connection to the scope slides out far too easily, dumping alignment. Also, the wiring on the battery pack itself is fairly fragile. As soon as you break the scope out of the box, you should Velcro or tape the battery pack to the motorized mount (not the tripod legs). This will save you some disappointment. I was also disappointed in the readability of the hand controller. As the text scrolls by, it's very difficult to read. Don't fret too much about this, though. After you align it once or twice - you won't need to read the display that often, anyway. Lastly, while I have found the optics very good, I would recommend purchasing a 6mm and/or 4mm eyepiece right off the bat when you order your scope. The 25mm and 10mm eyepieces that come with the kit are great, but you're going to want more magnification the first time you look at Jupiter, Saturn, etc. And while you're buying an additional eyepiece, grab a moon filter and a solar filter as well. My daughter loves looking at the moon with the telescope, but it's so bright that it destroys your night vision for ten minutes without the filter. Overall, I'm very happy with the telescope. I have really enjoyed it, and look forward to exploring the night sky for years to come. Who knows, maybe this is the first of more telescopes in my future.
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