Steven,

When my 7 year old son started showing a strong interest in astronomy, I
wanted to get him set up. I already owned a NexStar 5 (far superior to the
scope that you've mentioned below), yet I still went out and bought a 6 inch
dob for him to use. The one I got was the Deep Space Hunter 6" from Hardin
Optical. The Orion would also be a good choice.

The main issue that I had with getting him going on the NexStar is that the
scope is nearly useless if you don't get it aligned properly. Now I can get
it aligned and going in 30 seconds, but I doubt my son could do it by
himself.

Also, it's inconvenient to just wander around the sky with a goto scope.
Others will probably disagree with me, but I find it tedious to have to slew
the scope manually. Basically, if you see something in the sky that you
want to look at, you have to set the slewing speed up, and then use the
buttons to get the scope in the general area. Then, once you're close to
the object, you have to change the slewing speed again, down to finding or
centering speed as you zero in on it.

Goto scopes are great if you know the name of what you want to see so that
you can select it on the had controller (and my 3 other scopes are all goto
scopes). But my son's favorite thing to do is to point the scope at
something bright in the sky and then wander around the area looking for
double stars or interesting asterisms.

Finally, I would like to briefly comment on something below: Celestron
itself does not equal cheap, flimsy and frustrating. Celestron makes many
different types of telescopes, and most of them are quality instruments with
a good reputation. Unfortunately, they also make some "junk" on the low end
(so does Meade, by the way), and the ones that Costco is selling fall into
this category.

I hope that this information is useful.

Good luck,
-Wade


"Pat Nealy" wrote in message
...
Steven,

If you have an Orion store within walking distance of you, you'd be
crazy to buy anywhere else (IMHO). BTW, you'd also be crazy to but the
Costco/ Celestron 114. As a previous post said, the computer adds parts
that will be a challenege to learn, and an even bigger challenge to keep
operational.

Costco/ Celestron = cheap, flimsy, frustrating = no (or frustrating)
stargazing for you and your daughter.

An Orion (or other decent) 6 or 8" dobsonian reflector = simplicity,
stability, ease of use and better views of the heavens. You and your
daughter will actually enjoy such a scope.

Avoid the costco scope like the plague.

Clear skies,

Pat

Steven Scharf wrotIf e:
I want to get my 10 year old a telescope for her birthday.
I wanted to get one from my local Orion store, but
unfortunately the store near me (walking distance!)
keeps bankers hours, and I can't get there when it's open.

I saw that Costco is selling the Celestron Nexstar 114
for $200 (should have got it when it was on sale earlier
in the year, oh well). While I wasn't really looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

Is this a really junky scope? I can order on-line
from Orion, but I'd rather be able to buy it today or
tomorrow.