Side by Side Comparison of: Celestron vs John A Read vs Adams Media vs Amazon

as a beginner and incredibly amateur astronomer i love this telescope, it's easy to set up and simple to operate, just find the celestial object you want with the finder-scope then enjoy your view, this is not a high powered telescope so you won't get sharp images of distant objects, it's perfect for viewing constellations, the moon and nearby planets but not so great for dim nebulae and galaxies

Got this along with a solar filter for viewing the solar eclipse. Worked fabulously!!!! I also got Orion 7033 Precision Slow-Motion Adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000XMV86/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, Eyeskey Universal Phone Spotting Scope Adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J9F19I8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) & Televue Sol-Searcher Solar Finder (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B785SG/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w). The Solar Finder needed a different screw to connect to the telescope, but it was so much fun to watch and live stream the eclipse!

For the price, it is great. Comes with two eye pieces. Great for looking at the moon. However, the tripod is HORRIBLE: twisting little pieces is difficult and doesn't easily adjust, super flimsy and almost worthless, but I am still giving 5 star review because telescope is good and it seems that they just included the tripod so someone can at least look at moon straight out of the box.

Ordered Tuesday arrived Thursday, a gift for 8yr old niece and parents, can not wait until the open it and share the experience. Came triple boxed well, and interior box had nice graphics printed for scope. All parts were present. Wrapped and ready to be received. Thanks for the timely no extra cost, and superbly handled shipment!

Amazing telescope. I have used a number of telescopes and this is one of the best based on flexibility, ease of use and performance. When mounted on a simple Eq. tracking mount I am getting better pictures than with my C925 that has been a significant source of disappointment. For this price there is no better telescope in the market.

Just edited my original review to add a few photos I took last winter, including lovely comet Lovejoy. These photos are from a really dark place and were processed with Photoshop. However, I just needed a 1-minute exposure at 6400 ISO with my Canon DSLR connected directly to the rear of the telescope (no diagonal). Then I mounted the telescope on a regular Eq. Mount (an additional advantage of this telescope is that it is very light so no heavy duty mount is required... however it needs to be properly aligned and you need to be careful not to touch the camera, telescope or mount when taking a photo to avoid vibration). When I bought this telescope I was needing the equivalent of a 400mm to 600mm lens for my Canon DSLR. These lenses cost several thousand dollars so I bought instead this telescope as it was a very low risk investment compared to the potential benefits. As you can see it really paid off....

Maybe for modern day sniping..but not too good for stars..

Well worth the money, for my family.

I replaced the tripod, however, because it wasn't sufficiently steady for viewing objects at great distances. And the eyepieces are so-so though good enough for terrestrial observation and undemanding views of stars and planets.

Overall, for what I paid, I'm satisfied.

The telescope is great for the money. The only thing that's a bit annoying is that the little screws that hold everything in place are a bit flimsy and you have to keep tightening them. But the scope is great for travel. First thing I saw were he moons of Jupiter, it was awesome!

I know it's a beginner telescope so I was expected a lot from this. However, my son (11 yr) prefers to use it like a pair of binoculars during the day because the stars just look like bright blobs at night. He can see a little more detail in the moon but not enough to get excited about. I may invest in a better magnification later on.

Don't expect to be able to look at anything other than the moon but as long as you know that, it is great. I use it all the time, really convenient to pull out on a whim and check out the moon. It very well may be able to find stars and whatnot but the stand is too flimsy to actually be able to locate one and keep it there. I bought a Barlow magnifying lense but I think that this scope is too weak to focus it. Or I'm just using it wrong, which very welll may be the case. Regardless, for what it is and the price, it's a great buy and I'm thankful I did. I will upgrade eventually but will always keep this around just for fun and impressing friends who've never looked at the moon up close before.

For the price, worked as expected

Gave it as a gift but recipient isn't able to see stars & constellations. Guess I didn't read the fine print well enough. What do u suggest. Gave it to 2 first time astronomers.

The best thing about this buy is the backpack. Tried it out 2 nights in a row and could barely see more than the naked eye. I knew the tripod would be bad, but it's really bad.

I bought this telescope because my husband said he'd like to have one for camping trips. We just got back from our 1st trip with the telescope. My husband didn't like it. He never could really see anything and the instructions weren't that helpful. I found the finder to be sort of useful -- it would get me in the general vicinity. The tripod was totally useless. It was so rickety that I didn't feel comfortable leaving the scope set up without having one of us right beside it at all times, plus it was too short to use standing and too awkward to use while sitting. The part that you attach the scope to wouldn't hold a location -- I had to practically strip the screws to get it tight enough to stay put and then I couldn't move it using the "joystick." Having said all that -- when I finally figured out which lens to use in the eyepiece, I did get a nice big image of Jupiter, but I never was able to get any kind of detail. I'm not giving this telescope a bad rating because I'm sure most of my problems were user related and not the fault of the telescope, but I really can't give it more than 3 stars. I'm hopeful that my viewing experiences will improve as I use the telescope.

I agree with others who have mentioned this seems like a toy, not a serious optical instrument. Fortunately, I bought it for my young daughter and she likes playing with it (we looked at the full moon last night). But at just 40X magnification (max.), I have binoculars that do as well as this for night sky viewing. This should simply be marketed as a kids' toy telescope, not a "travel scope".

Oh, and another thing, the spotting scope shows you everything upside down which renders it useless for quick spotting of anything.

I was impressed by the review and bought one. I really wanted to see some stars. But this is really a toy.
I could not see stars using this product.
The tuning of this device is impossible as the smaller eye is too close to the main one.
Disappointed. Returned.

Disappointed in quality of this. Cheap and couldn't really get it to work.

The tripod is very unsteady and the travel scope is more for a child then an adult. You will need to spend more money for a quality telescope.

I bought this for a guidescope on my larger astrophotography telescope. I've not used it for that yet, but should work nicely. I'm currently trying to get it mounted on my primary scope.
CASE was nice - scope isn't bad - little plasticy around the back focus section, but should work well for what I'm going to use it for.
TRIPOD I could have done without. It's junk and I threw it in the trash... would have rather saved 10 bucks and not gotten a tripod but old well. Was a over all good price for a 70mm finder scope.

UPDATE - was unacceptable. Would be fine for a under 13 year olds first scope. Essentially junk. = (

This is more a child's toy than a serious instrument. It vibrates a lot at the slightest touch. The tripod is very light and flimsy. Rigging a weight hanging under the scope was helpful but not a full solution. I had better luck mounting the scope on a heavy dslr tripod but the construction of the scope is too flimsy to get a solid mount. All in all this will be 1 of my 10 year old grandchild's Christmas presents this year and I will look for something else to travel with

This telescope is not good! Point it at the sky and adjust it (yes the lens cap is off) and you can't see anything. Can barely see the moon!

disappointed in this product. cheaply made and not worth the price

Arrrggghh! Not easy to use or configure at all! Returned! Didn't even find out whether it works or not coz we couldn't build it! CD for instructions for viewing was empty!! Sadly, It was just for aesthetics! Product was poorly made too!

I bought this with a promise to my three kids to start star and moon gazing sessions, upon assembly and due to it's exceptionally poor material and manufacturing Tripod cracked and came into small pieces popping nuts and bolts everywhere, tried to overcome the dissappointment and use the scope without the tripod but the view is poor and completely unclear.
Lousy cheap product which is somehow costly after all and kept me helpless and my kids puzzled and frustrated.
Complete waste of money and time and an utter bummer.

It's like binoculars, but half as many eye holes. It's got all the aesthetic of being a star worthy scope, but will only work for your neighbor's windows.