Must haves for an Orion xt8i?

[star2root]

Make sure you select 1 25mm and 1 10mm eyepiece. That will give you a good starting point and duplicate the "stock" setup. The stock scope comes with Orion Sirus Plossl eyepieces, which are probably fine at the 25mm and 10mm sizes. If you want to you could choose the 25mm and 10mm wide angle eyepieces like the Orion Expanse Wide-Field, or if you wear glasses, the Orion Long Eye Relief Telescope Eyepieces to make the eyepieces easy to see through, or the Orion Epic II ED Telescope Eyepieces, I have the older model of one of these and it is great. The eye relief is almost as good as the Orion Long Eye Relief Telescope Eyepieces, the field of view is almost as wide as the Orion Expanse Wide-Field, and the image clarity is great.

[JuanM]

I was debating on getting a polarized filter as opposed to a straight percentage moon filter. I was thinking that it would be helpful to "dim" depending on the phase of the moon etc.. but that could be just ignorance on my part and a big assumption

You were right on your assumption !

I have a variable polarizer filter and, to me, it is very convenient as to set the brightness to the level of comfort I desire depending on the Moon phase. Of course, it's a personal choice, and some members prefer fixed % filters while others never use any when looking at Luna, or simply wear sunglasses.

[cbishop]

I only have on filter and that is the 13% moon filter and it is perfect for viewing the moon. I cannot speak for the polarized one as i do not have one. But the plain moon filter will not dissapoint.