Recommend me a telescope

[Queasy]

We finally got my son to ask for something other than that awful Crackers McCaw toy bird....and, he'd like a telescope.

Recommendations? This is for a 5-year old and should be in the $100 range.

I was looking at this one but reviews like this aren't encouraging.

i loved it it help me so much learning and i had a a test about space and it helped so good i got an A on my test!Now i love space!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Spacehead]

See if there's an astronomy club in your area & take your son there first to get some ideas on scopes & get some tips on finding your way around the night sky.
I'm assuming your son doesn't know his way around the night sky & don't know if you do either, but it'll hard to find objects in the scope that you can't see naked eye if you don't know where to look.



You can sort by price on both these links to narrow the search
http://www.telescope.com/contr.../~pcategory=telescopes
http://www.telescope.com/contr.../~pcategory=telescopes

 

[Kindjal]

I agree with what Spacehead said. Also consider a pair of Celestron Skymaster Binoculars for around $80. I find that it is much easier to locate objects in the sky with a good pair of binoculars. These binoculars are large, so I would recommend a tripod.

 

[Queasy]

Thanks. This one looks pretty good.

I had a telescope when I was a kid but its been a long time since I used one. So, I'll have to relearn a lot of things.

 

[pontifex]

70mm is about 2.75 inches?

If you can swing it, you might want to go with something like this.

The larger aperture is going to make a huge difference.

also check Cloudy Nights forum. Very helpful and very friendly people there. A telescope is one of those things you don't want to cheap out on.