Telescope Reviews

Ok, If I had been born a little smarter, MAYBE I could have gotten this thing to work. You can view a couple things, in the daytime it's pretty cool for watching your neighbors take out the trash, but give me a break, you can't see ANYTHING at night. Perhaps that's due to street lights blaring, but it is useless if you can't adjust it PERFECTLY and it can drive a person crazy.

Take Digital Pictures of Space with this telescope. This is a great item. I love that I have a great telescope and when I find what I am looking for I can take digital pictures to show my friends. This is a great item and I highly recommend it.

not a bad little telescope but the eye pieces are of the poorest
quality .not what i expected from a company with such a good name.
if you use the scope with out the 3x barlow (total junk) and with out angle mirror (also very poor resoslution )and use the eye piece dirrectly its just ok . then add a stone or other near by heavy object on tripod stay and the shaking will stop..
adjust the thumb screws so you get just enough resistance to move scope -good luck -and buy better eye pieces if you plan to keep it ..

Its nice and you can look at the stars and its so fun.

with this cheap and cheerful 'scope from Meade. I liked their 90-AZ-F model far more, but it's [$$$] more expensive and you have to purpose build a stable viewing platform out of red brick in order to use it, so as a compromise, the 60-AZ-D is a much better choice. For children wishing to spy on school friends two blocks down you can't go wrong with this. Does exactly what it says on the box - "Warning - this product may contain nuts."

MY SEVEN YEAR OLD LOVE AND ENJOY THIS TOY. IT KEEPS HIM BUSY FOR HOURS LOOKING AND NAMING THE STARS.

my son recieved this set for his 6th birthday and it was a huge disappointment! He was so excited because he wanted to see mars and we couldn't even see the full moon through the telescope! The binoculars are great which is the only reason I gave it two stars, but the telescope isn't worth the cardboard that it came in. You would think you would be ablt to see something even if it isn't the most advanced equipment but after numerous tries by everyone we never saw squat!

I bougth this model and my children are just thrilled with it. I called Citiwell Customer Service and they called me back that day and took me through every step and explained all my questions to me. We are looking for an affordable telescope we can use and this is a great model at its cost. My father is an astronomer and Orion, Meade and Celeston sell more expensive models and not what we were looking for. Meade does sell lower cost models that are comparable to this model but Citiwell was the best cost. As a matter of facts the tripod was strong and the optics great. We saw very clear and again my children just love it. I give 10 out of 10 for this model.

I suggest to skip this telescope because it's mount (tripod legs) are not movable. It HAS to move because the Earth will rotate, so the objects in the sky will also move, too (If it dosn't, the object will be out of sight in few minutes!). Also, why should this telescope be at a cheap price? Any good telescope for children and begininers should at least be around $80. Oh, and the Star Searcher? I don't think it will work. Even a planisphear would work better that telescope's Star Searcher! After a while of researching, I found out that telescopes offered by department stores are simply lower quality that the stores who make opitics such as telescopes, microscopes, binoculars ect. for living. I would recommend Bushell, or Orion telescopes to by instead of this. Even though I'm a beginier astronomer, I strongly recommend to skip this telescope, please!

This telescope rocks. It is so easy to use. I love the star cards lets you know what you are looking for and allows you to look for stars that you didn't even know existed.

We bought this telescope as a Christmas present for our 9 year old son. He was very excited, but the telescope was a big bust. First, the assembly was difficult. Once assembled the locking mechanism would not keep the telescope focused on an object. The moon was the only object in the night sky that we could keep the telescope focused on. Lastly, the telescope has a carrying case, but you have to completely disassemble it to get it in the case. I'd rather spend twice the money and get something that a 9 year can actually use.

This is a good option if you are buying for a young budding astronomer and don't want to spend a lot of money. I am an adult who gave this in November 2001 as a first telescope for an 11 year-old nephew (birthday). Due to circumstances beyond the scope of this article, I have sole possession of it for a month before my nephew gets it back. I had no prior astronomy knowledge or experience. I did a little internet research after the purchase, and the following is based on that limited research and my experience with this telescope.

If you want to spend limited money just to see if a youngster will take an interest, this product isn't a bad way to go. That's especially so if you don't have a lot of time to first become knowledgable on the topic. One website recommends a 60mm refractor telescope (like this one) for rank beginners.

One caution about telescope claims generally: Although most products brag about the maximum available power (say, 525x like this one), the clarity at such powers (at least in this price range) isn't very good and is useful for only bigger, brighter objects like the moon. Don't buy a telescope based only on a claimed maximum power. A more practical maximum power will be closer to 175x at this price range, according to one website and my experience.

The good news is there is plenty to see at powers of 35x to 175x. This product is good in that it has 4 different eyepieces in the 35x-175x range, providing reasonable versatility. In December 2001, I could see shadows cast by craters on the moon, Saturn and its ring, and Jupiter with 4 of its moons. Granted, Saturn & Jupiter are especially visible this time of year. A gripe: At 175x, fine directional adjustments require a little patience due to a little looseness in the mounting mechanism. An adult can do it, but can an 11 year-old? I don't know yet. It's not really a problem at 35x, 56x & 78x.

Recommendations: An adult should do the initial setup and align the finderscope, which acts like a sighting scope on a rifle. Stay at the lower powers until the youngster gets familiar with it. Try it out in daylight first (just don't try to look at the sun!!!), then at big nocturnal objects like the moon.

One other important consideration: If you are purchasing for a middle teenager or adult, don't mess with (...inexpensive)-class telescopes from all-purpose stores. Instead, research any number of good internet websites, seek help from a local astronomy club, and then go to a specialty store. (...)

I think that kids my age to think about this telescope. I sure did after what I learnded in sciece the telescope came i handy to see the stars and planets.

Don't waste your hard earned money on this telescope. It looks great but you can only see through the finderscope you cannot see through the telescope we couldn't even see the MOON.

I bought this for a Christmas present. Thank goodness for Amazon's return policy. We could only focus on the moon and the base was not very sturdy. I suggest save your money!

I purchased this for my 8yr. old son for Christmas and he really enjoys it. The only advice I can give is to make sure everything is tightened well and to make the correct adjustments to your finderscope so that is will be useful to you. It's a great 1st telescope. If my son is still interested in exploring the universe by next Christmas then I would consider buying a higher quality one for him. In considereing the low cost of this telescope, I do think it is a great value.