PLEASE talk me out of Minolta 8-20x50 zoom binocs

I've heard generally bad reports about zoom binoculars optical quality, but
these Minolta zooms seem nice with BAK-4 prisms, full multicoating, 15mm er
etc:

http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/mai...PG/CPGProducts
?cname=bino&fname=bino_activa&Mname=Activa_Standar d_Zoom

(Watch for line wrap with long url)

I have a pair of 8x40s which are lightweight, compact, sharp, and great for
just panning around the sky. I enjoy getting up from the scope, having a
stretch, and and lying on my back and cruising around the sky with these
binos. So I thought, even with the narrower 4.5deg FOV of the zooms, the
ability to zoom in on an object of interest (realistically 12x-16x I'm
guessing, in terms of shake and useable mag) would quite enhance this casual
approach.

Previously on saa I've given a happy review for a zoom ep; a good pair of
zoom binocs on the face of it have similar appeal - if such a thing as a
good pair exists.

Any experience or thoughts?

Thanks,
Mark