"Stephen Paul" wrote in message ...

I find it amusing that you mention the name Tasco, and everyone groans, but
you mention Synta, and nobody flinches.

That's because nobody I know buys directly from Synta, but from other
companies that import these telescopes and package them with
accessories of widely varying quality. Needless to say, Tasco has
done a ****-poor job with their packages, which are aimed primarily at
beginners. For comparison, Orion does a much better job, and they
even attempt to educate their customers on what they can reasonably
expect from their telescopes.

Experienced amateur astronomers might be able to do things like buying
a discounted Tasco just for the Synta OTA and chucking the junky
accessories, but for most people, that's all they have when they buy
the telescope. Sure, Galileo might have accomplished much with even
worse equipment, but not everyone is Galileo. And if he were alive
today, shopping for an entry-level telescope, I doubt that he would
say "Dimentichi Orion, portimi un Tasco!" ;-)

The only Tasco I ever owned, came
from Synta. Go figure. Synta builds okay stuff, but not great.

At least they build OK stuff. What has Tasco done to deserve anything
but contempt?


- Robert Cook