Just cant decide!!?!

[JutvsOrion]

Ive been looking and looking at telescopes and ways to know what your buying as far as Apeture size, focal ratio a good mount, Eps that come with the scope but I just cant decide. Was hoping to get some insight from you guys.

Willing to spend around $500
Im not worried about how portable it is, It wont leave the house.. its mainly for me to get started star gazing and to get my kids intrested in it when they get a little older.

I looked at a few that seem good to me, I really would like a GOTO or PUSHTO computerized one to really help me get going.

Orion Starseeker 80mm FL 400 Ratio F5 comes with 25mm and 10mm EP
Mount is Altazimuth
Orion Starseeker 130mm FL 650 Ratio F5 comes with 25mm and 10 mm EP
Mount is Altazimuth
Orion Starblast 6i 150mm (push) FL 750 Ration F5 comes with 25mm and 10
mm EP on a Deosnian mount.
Celestron Nexstar 4se 102mm FL 1325mm Ratio 12.9 comes with 25mm EP

Prices start at 300 with the 80mm and end at 500 with the Nexstar


Probably any of these would be good for me, but I am looking for any advice on any scope if anyone has any info for me, would be great!!

Thx!

[OleCuss]

OK, I'm going to cheat just a little.

You said you were willing to spend "around" $500 so I'm going to push that to $530.

So I'm going to take the liberty of suggesting an 8 inch Dobsonian "PushTo": Orion SkyQuest XT8i Computerized IntelliScope | Orion Telescopes

Since portability is not a huge concern I consider this to be a telescope head and shoulders above anything else you mentioned in your post. The light-gathering will be much more than anything you mentioned and the IntelliScope function will still keep it easy to find what you want to see.

If you wanted a telescope to be able to grab any time and take with you then I'd go for the 4 inch Celestron - no need to collimate the thing ever, just like the refractor. But understand that the 8 incher that I am suggesting will collect roughly 4 times as much light as the 4 incher and that makes a world of difference.

You won't get superb eyepieces with any of those telescopes, but they'll likely be alright and the 8 incher I suggested has two eyepieces that will likely serve you pretty well.

FWIW

Edit: I should note that with eyepieces that are not top of the line a focal ratio of 5 is a little fast and the 8 incher's ratio of 5.9 is a little better. The Celestron's much longer ratio will make it considerably more forgiving of not-so-great eyepieces.

[sxinias]

Like OleCuss said, for slightly more than $500 the Orion XT8i is available that has sufficient aperture to serve you for a lifetime. Also, don't base your decision upon packaged eyepieces, etc as these are things you can add slowly over time. Consider the telescope and mount as this part is fixed.

The telescopes on your list, while all excellent telescopes, really fall into two categories .... telescopes with stable viewing platforms and telescopes that shake and vibrate.

Two telescopes, the Orion XT6i and Celestron 4SE have very stable viewing platforms that will greatly enhance your viewing pleasure. The other telescopes on your list are nice but not in the same class as these two.

The Orion XT6i has sufficient aperture to show details of deep space objects and serve you for years. Its pushto system is reliable and accurate. The major negative of the Orion XTi series is that it is not motorized and you will need to manually move the scope to find objects as well as manually move it to keep objects in view of the eyepiece; not something difficult to do but something some people object to doing. Dependent upon the age of your children, this may or may not be a factor in your decision ... but remember ... kids grow fast and generally are able to do more complex tasks than adults give them credit. On the other hand, the lack of a motor drive also gives the XTi series a large positive boost.... lowers its cost and increases its reliability. The XTi is usable when the batteries die or if the mount malfunctions. The goto telescopes in your budget are not.

The 4SE has excellent optics and has many advanced features not with any of the other telescopes including the Orion XTi series. Its mount can be used in either the azimuth mode like all of the other scopes on your list or in the equatorial mode should you ever wish to dap in beginning astrophotography. The telescope has a flip mirror which is useful for photography. The 4SE tripod is rock solid, orders of magnitude better than the tripod on the other telescopes (excluding the Orion XT which does not need a tripod). The 4SE mount can also directly control a digital single lens reflex camera and has other features not on any of the other telescopes you are considering. Whether or not these advanced features are worth anything to you is something only you can decide ...However astronomy is about viewing the heavens. In this regard, the little 4SE can keep its own with the big guys for the moon and planets. It can also compete very well with the brighter deep space objects. For dimmer deep space objects, the two larger scopes on your list will provide better views.

As far as the other telescopes on your list, their goto mounts are reliable and accurate. However, their tripod is weak and shaky detracting from viewing. There are some easy and inexpensive mods that can be done to their tripods to improve the situation but none of them will give the stability of the Orion XTi series or the Celestron SE series telescopes. The shaky tripod makes focusing difficult and also viewing during windy conditions... sort of like loosing an inch of aperture. The little 80 mm telescope is nice but I think that you will be disappointed in the views it gives.

[JutvsOrion]

seems the Orion SkyQuest XT8i is a very good scope, I agree with the apeture size, its the biggest ive seen for around that price. Being Mr. Careful ill spend the day at work checking on more things and comparing it to the XT8i just to be sure, but thanks alot for getting my eyes on this nice scope.

[Bob327]

Yep the gang opened your eyes (as well as your wallet..lol) but seriously depending on budget (your need for chairs, extra eyepieces sky charts etc) the XTi 6 inch scope has to stay in the running...

Both are big enough to keep you occupied for YEARS...the 8 is borderline if it will last you a lifetime or not...

Bob G