who makes a good telescope?

[jer22]

a friend of mine was asking about what kind of telescope to get, he doesn't want anything extravagant just a decent scope. even used if sombody here knows where to look and what to look for. $150-300 would be the price range. anybody with knowledge in this area please reply. jer houston, tx. area a +

 

[vegetation]

What's it to be used for, astronomy? If so, buy a reflector scope of at least 4.5 inches. Expect to pay around $300 with an OK tripod included. Meades are usually decent starter scopes. That's pretty much the minimum I would go with for a starter setup. Anything cheaper will just buy you crap. Stay far away from department store 600x power scopes for $99, they are totally useless.

 

[LordJezo]

Mead makes the best one.

We have a high end one at my house (see rings of Saturn, moons of jupiter, etc..) but they make the best low end ones as well. Amazon has a nice selection to look through.

 

[RossMAN]

Telescope reviews courtesy of ePinions.com

 

[kami]

Well it depends what he's most interested in.

90mm Refractor - best for "local" objects such as the moon and planets and it's also god for stuff like double-stars and start clusters, its light gathering power is also sufficient for brighter objects such as Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy. This one comes with everything you need....finder scope, tripod and mount, and two oculars.

130mm Reflector - not as sharp when viewing local stuff such as the moon, but much more light-gathering performance than the 90mm refractor which means you will see more nebulas and galaxies. Comes with everything you need as well, and $70 cheaper than the refractor.

Even though I own a refractor now, if I was choosing between those two, I would get the reflector.

Other options
If you want portability. smallest of them all, but still decent

cheap reflector ( would stay away unless he really needs to keep the budget down. i am not a fan of cheap reflectors)

 

[mrCide]

orion

 

[Beau]

I'd love to get one of these with a F-Mount camera adapter