Meade DS-70EC Telescope

Rating:
Summary: Great Telescope for Beginners
Review: (...)
Max Advertised Power was I think 250 but with the 9mm and 25mm lens you dont even get close which are the defaults that the telescope comes with. You have to buy the Barlow lens or the 4mm lens to see saturn.
Over all for the (...)price its really great, but buying the lenses will cost an additional (dollar amount), so total comes to about (dollar amount), for that price this is the best in its class.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for a beginner
Review: As a beginner into the world of astronomy, the Meade DS70 EC coupled with the Autostar system makes an amazing telescope. The views of the moon, Saturn and other celestial objects are astounding. You can see Saturn very clearly (when your eyes get adjusted you will see the rings, colors and moons) and you will be able to see more detail with a 1.25" Barlow lens or more highly powered eyepiece. Setting it up was hassle free except for the motors, which would not thread on properly (eventually they did).

I would recommend this for any beginning astronomer. It is great!

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect to see much
Review: Don't waste you time or money on this scope. The mount is very shaky and the images are dim and unexciting. The manual is also confusing. I'm going to sell it and get a bigger scope without all the gimmicky electronics.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: In my opinion, viewing anything outside of this solar system is basically unviewable with this scope. If you want to look at Saturn, it is only a small dot with a ring around it. You really need to concentrate and have good vision to be able to see Saturn to the best extent possible with this scope. Jupiter is a ball where you also need to concentrate if you would like to see the "Great Red Spot" (which is hundreds of times larger than the Earth!!!). You will need tons of accesories to get the most out of this scope. Overall, don't waste your time on this scope, save your money for a better telescope.

Rating:
Summary: Value for money
Review: Meade DS-70EC Telescope is perfect for the novice. Its easy to useb and its mechanical precision and low-backlash motion facilitate quick object location and tracking, thid feature especially is extremely useful. In a nut shell its a neat compact looking piece for an affordable price.

Rating:
Summary: Good value for the money
Review: Pros:
Good beginner scope (and probably the only scope necessary for a casual observer). Even if used only 3 or 4 times ever, the views of the Moon (lots of craters near where light side transitions to dark) and Saturn (looks like a dot with a ring around it) are worth this amount of money if you never have seen them through a telescope. Its neat to see those things with your own eyes in your own backyard even if they look small (its like looking at the back of an pencil eraser at Jupiter or Saturn), vs looking at pictures in a book. With the motors attached the image holds steady in the wind. It is pretty easy with the motors to hold Saturn in the center field of view and you never have to touch the barrel, just the control pad. This is small enough to carry with one hand from the garage to the backyard.
Cons:
70 mm size not large enpugh for deep sky objects (nebula, galaxy), this might limit depth for serious types (who would probably want a size of 150 mm)
Finderscope is small and hard to get at to look through. Ok for the bright planets and moon though.

Rating:
Summary: Great beginning telescope
Review: This is really great scope.First,don't expect images like Hubble. This is a small scope,but you'll love it for sure.The best for observations are planets.VERY USEFUL is 2x Barlow lens option.Here's what can you see: Mercury-Very hard,but you can see it's phases.No details.Venus- You can see it's phases at any time.It's beautifull.No details. Mars-It's pretty cool.You can see red disk with some details.Best looking in opposition.Jupiter-Gas giant is very,very beautifull.You can easily see four Galilean moons.You can see up to four cloud bands(maybe something more when in opposition)on large disk.No great red spot.Saturn-The best one!!Rings are so pretty!!You can easily see it.When in opposition you can see Cassini division.Also one cloud band is visibleThe bightest moon Titan is also visible.If you are in good dark sky conditions you can see second moon Rhea end even Dione(when your eyes get adjusted).Uranus-You can maybe recognize a very small disk.Nothing more.No chanse for details.Neptune-Nothing.Just a starlike dot.Pluton-No cnanse!Totally invisible! Double Stars are also beautifull. That's it If you are a beginer try it i think you'll be pleased!

Rating:
Summary: Great beginner telescope!
Review: We bought this telescope for our son's 9th birthday to keep him happy and occupied while his dad sets up our more advanced telescope. In particular, we wanted a telescope that he could use easily on his own. Set up was a breeze, and we were amazed at the clarity of what we were able to see on a rather hazy night in a fairly light polluted area. Jupiter with its bands and moons were clearly visible as were the rings on Saturn. Though it comes with electronic controls and will work with the Autostar, our son enjoys positioning the telescope manually which he found easy to do. This is a perfect beginner telescope!

Rating:
Summary: Great beginner telescope!
Review: We bought this telescope for our son's 9th birthday to keep him happy and occupied while his dad sets up our more advanced telescope. In particular, we wanted a telescope that he could use easily on his own. Set up was a breeze, and we were amazed at the clarity of what we were able to see on a rather hazy night in a fairly light polluted area. Jupiter with its bands and moons were clearly visible as were the rings on Saturn. Though it comes with electronic controls and will work with the Autostar, our son enjoys positioning the telescope manually which he found easy to do. This is a perfect beginner telescope!

Rating:
Summary: OK - but better scopes available in the same price range
Review: While not a bad scope, it shows signs of cost cutting. The finder and the 9mm eyepiece are awful - I replaced the 9mm eyepiece as soon as possible. The mount is not as stable as it should be for medium to high powers - I found it was hard to find focus due to the jiggling of the image. The electronic controls are fine but really don't offer any benefit over manual slo-mo controls available on many scopes.

This is a step up from "junk department store refractors" to be sure, but I recommend getting a more "back to basics" scope without the electronics. Scopes in the same general price range are available with better accessories and mounts, and/or larger apertures.