Newbie watching Mars with Nikon Action 7x50 Binoculars (#7201)

I don't think a telescope is too complex for a newbie (I am one too). I
have been able to see Jupiter and some of its moons, Saturn, Mars, and a
few star clusters from my backyard (badly light polluted and near an
airforce base). A simple Altizimuth type mount lets you just point at an
object to view it, and the only adjustment is aligning the viewfinder
scope (really easy to do).

I have found that covering my head with a dark towel and letting the end
of my telecope or binoculars point to the sky helps me to see more
stars. I also sit under the towel for a few minutes blocking all the
light before I start observing. There are filters that are supposed to
help in light polluted skies but I haven't tried them yet.

You can often find telescopes that aren't too bad for a reasonable price
by looking at the clearance items and seconds (I got a nice 60mm
refractor from Orion for $59.00 because the paint was scratched--but the
otics are fine).
Check out http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...TEWAY&itemID=7
and http://www.hardinoptical.com/specials.html as examples.

Sorry I can't answer your binocular question--don't know enough about
optics.

Josh