"Alan W. Craft" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 6 Sep 2003 15:23:19 -0400, "Michael A. Covington"
...reflected:

If you walked up to a display table at an astronomy convention,
and there was a brand-new Celestron C5 optical tube assembly on
one side, and an equally pristine Meade ETX-125 optical tube
assembly on the other, which one would you grab up and
run with, when no one was looking of course, and why?

Actually, the Orion 5-inch Maksutov

But the C5 cools down very quickly, which is also an advantage for
grab-and-go observing.

And my impression -- admittedly unconfirmed -- is that the NexStar 5 mount
is smoother than the ETX-125.

(Admittedly, one thing I like about my old C5 is that, with two fork arms,
it is very sturdily mounted.)

I wish Meade would make a 5- or 6-inch version of the LX90.