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Originally Posted by earthman  anyone have any comments, is it really the best one to buy for around the £200 mark? |
In a word - No!
I think the only reasons the ETX won that contest was the weak competition, and the Goto feature.
Optically - although the meade isn't a BAD scope, it is a street behind a half-decent 8" newtonian, like the SkyWatcher 200, on light-grasp and resolution alone.
If I were offered those scopes for free - I'd take the Dob first, and probably the 90mm longer focal,length Celestron refractor second,
The Meade would only be my third choice because the 130mm EQ-mounted reflector is a poor example (Bresser Messier)
If it had been a SkyWatcher Explorer 130 reflector instead, I'd have also chosen that over the ETX too.
I'm not a big fan of SMALL Goto scopes.....
OK - they may help a beginner to find things - BUT - this will be very short-lived because the limited light-grasp means that it will only be capable of showing the brighter, better-known, deep sky objects - and most enthusiastic beginners will be able to find them without the Goto, within a few months.
The ETX-80 is capable of pointing at many more, dimmer objects, unfortunately, the small aperture means that you won't be able to see most of them - so what's the point of it?
I'd much rather have the light-grasp to actually 'SEE' some of the dimmer objects - then have the satisfaction of also finding them myself - a feeling that's hard-to-beat, and very addictive
