Side by Side Comparison of: Celestron vs Barska

I am still very much a beginner, even after using telescopes for 20 years. After much research, I settled on the 6 SE telescope, and couldn't be happier. This is a huge upgrade from my previous telescope, and the motorized tracker is a convenience I din't know I needed until I had it.

Big, heavy, expensive, exactly what you want in a quality Telescope.Love it. Does exactly what it says it will do.Planning our holiday this year around our telescope.

Great Telescope for 3 years now. I bought the 5" for the polar alignment feature. There are many good reviews on here about the scope already. So, I'll just say that you don't really 'see' what these images show, you need a decent camera and a computer to process your photos into stunning images. I would also suggest getting the Celestron Star Sense Auto Align, it will save time and that means more viewing. The Orion Nebula was shot with a Sony A6000 at 30 Sec ISO3200 using a Celestron 94123 1.25-Inch UHC/LPR Filter and is a single image. Jupiter was created from a series of video frames shot with the Celestron NexImage 5.

This is hands down a fantastic instrument. I purchased this scope to have something portable for camping in the summer and something less cumbersome to set up in our pasture for impromptu star parties. I have a 12" Meade lx200 classic with great optics but it's a beast to move around and flat out miserable to take camping where the really dark skies are. I wanted/needed a scope that was easy to transport but had enough aperture to make things interesting. This scope got awesome reviews and everyone seemed to love it so when Amazon had it on a warehouse deal for a scandalously low price I bought it. No regrets at all so far after a couple of months of solid use. When I first looked through the 6se, I was blown away by how bright and sharp the images were for being a 6" as opposed to my 12" Meade which desperately needs its mirrors recoated. This little 6" reignited the spark as I observed favorites like Albireo and the great cluster in Hercules. Amazing views! The single arm mount seems very solid though the spur gears are not optimal for fine tracking needed for loooong exposure astrophotography. I may end up upgrading next year to the nexstar 8 evolution for better gearing and some more bells and whistles. There is a noticeable amount of noise in the gearing as it tracks but really not a big deal in my mind as it does its job very well. I'm impressed with how well it does track though as I've centered an image and come back 2 hours later to find it still centered exactly as I left it so far as I can tell (visual observation, not using a camera). The 6se is about as big as I'd think you could go on this mount however as a scope that is much bigger might be a little heavy for the arm but I don't have an 8se so I'm just guessing there. As far as my original goal of portability goes, I found a cheap hardside suitcase which the packing foam fits in perfectly that makes transportation to observing sights a dream. This is a total winner for my needs and I look forward to years of quality astronomy using it. Highly recommended.

One night in, fantastic scope! I upgraded from a powerseeker 80eq to this one. This scope is so much nicer quality wise. The mount is sturdy and doesn't wobble, the electronic 2 axis movement is pretty slick and it is so much smaller than the 80eq which is great.It took me several times to get it to actually sync to the sky and work properly. I didn't realize you need to use your laser finder as well as your eyepiece to line up the stars first. Once you get it lined up it will work all night and is pretty cool.Overall a pretty sweet scope, can see the stripes on Jupiter with the moons and haven't even used a magnifier eyepiece yet. However I did buy an accessory pack that has a moon filter and a 9mm eyepiece which helped a lot.

The Celestron Nexstar 6se Telescope is fun, big and heavy, powerful, and really good optics. The night I first used it I used the Skyalign alignment and worked perfectly along with auto 2 star alignment. That night I saw Saturn In really good detail, and what was surprising was I was able to see Swan Nebula and Hercules Cluster all from a heavy light polluted sky.Optics: 10/10Goto: 8/10Tracking: 8:10Portability: 7/10Eyepiece: 7/10Battery Life: 4/10Strength of tripod: 10/10Magnification: 10/10Light Gathering: 9/10So this telescope is really cool and fun to use and I will buy an AC adapter later. This telescope is the best I have Ever Had and Is worth the $800.00Update 11/30/13:I live in a very heavy light polluted sky and no deep sky objects are visible to the naked eye. But when I look through the telescope I see the Orion Nebula(M42) very bright and clear. But when I type in Dumbbell Nebula(M27) I don't see a thing except several tens of stars. To see it you have to image it, I took 10 images 10 second exposure each (10x10s) and stacked them for a total of 100 second exposure . The Nebula was big, bright, and colorful(you can see the image in the product image gallery). So to see brighter/faint deep sky objects in a light polluted sky you have to image them with a camera. the faintest thing I have ever detected in any image is about magnitude 12(244 times fainter you can ever see with the naked eye).

Great for lunar gazing. It came to my deployed ship in 2013 and I used it at night on the fantail. Made deployment that much more bearable. Still have it in 2017 and looked at Saturn with it.

Unit was easy to assemble with a clear image not to difficult to obtain. Lite weight and easy to move, this is a great starter unit before moving on to bigger and better.

I bought this for my kids, but once I took my first look at the moon through the smaller lens I was hooked. The tripod is a little wobbly so a different tripod should help with being able to stay on one object but overall this is a GREAT telescope for the money. I recommend this highly if you are looking for a beginner telescope.

Very good starter telescope. Also works for spotting at target shooting.

I bought two of the BARSKA Starwatcher 400x70mm telescopes for my two grandsons. Their faces lit up when they opened them - boys love their toys. It was fairly easy to set up, and we are planning to do some daytime field scoping to practice using them, before using them at night to look at the moon and stars. These were well worth the money for a beginner telescope, since you do get a table top tripod with it. You can always purchase an inexpensive larger camera tripod later. I also got The Everything Kids' Astronomy Book for each of them. I liked what I saw in the book, but haven't heard from the boys what they think. I thought it would be good to have some type of easy to read reference for them.

A wonderful item for the price. Comes with its own carrying case and is perfect for those learning about the universe. Great quality. It made a perfect gift for my 17 year old granddaughter.

I'm sure at some point I'll want a bigger aperture, but so far I am loving this thing. For context, this is my first "real" telescope, but I've spent a bit of time of the last several years poking around the sky with binoculars and a spotting scope.I had a bit of trouble with the Sky Align, but after reading some discussion online started using the "Two-Star Auto" align feature and it works like a champ. I point it at Polaris (pretty easy to find), align it and it slews to a second star. Typically it is only a bit of, so a bit of adjustment and you are aligned. The bonus is that you get to learn a new star since it tells you which one it is going to.Once aligned, it is all fun and games. The sky tour feature is great. First item I hit was Andromeda Galaxy which is so cool and I would NEVER have been able to find on my own. I love also that it is smart enough to only show you things that are above the horizon. I've also been using the identify feature quite a bit.Yesterday morning I viewed Jupiter in the early morning. Even with the somewhat lighted sky I could make out the cloud bands and (of course) the four moons. So cool. I'm guessing this will be super clear on a dark night.A couple things I'd advise is:1) Buy the power supply or external/rechargeable battery. I've read that this thing eats a set of batteries in a night (8 AA batteries in all), so it is nice to not worry about that if you are near power (I run an extension into my yard).2) Get at least one other eyepiece. I won't make a recommendation on this, since I'm still playing around with the additional set I bought, but a 17mm in the set seems significantly better than the one that came with it.3) Buy at least a blue and moon filter. Looking at the moon without a filter will nearly blind you (OK, maybe just make you see spots for a while), so toning that down is very helpful. The blue filter definitely made the cloud bands in Jupiter stand out a bit more.I would definitely recommend this scope for anyone just starting. It will let you see some very cool things in the sky and help guide you through the night sky.PS: It also does terrestrial viewing pretty well. I am going to play around with using it as a telephoto for my DSLR, but haven't done so yet.

great scope, but the placement of the keypad thing is very poor.. it never stays on there and is hard to get on at all anyways... i ended up taking it off and using the aux port on top of the tripod

Overall, I am very happy with this telescope. It's ability to track and stay on an object is excellent. Periodically I have a hard time getting it setup and the control can be pretty complicated when you get deep into the options... but that being said, it has so many options! I am a beginner and this has been a great start for me. I also got the power cord and power it from an external battery, so I don't have the battery issues I've heard about when using this telescope.

Love my telescope, but I'm not sure if it works as well as advertised. I'm very much an amateur astronomer so take this review with a grain of salt, but I have trouble viewing anything with clarity other than the moon, which is not what I would expect from something that costs around $500. I am going to do some research to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong, and probably order the different lenses to see if I can get some better quality viewing. I'll update the review when I figure something out. Also, it has to be calibrated every time you move it, so if you can't leave it outside in some sort of observatory, it's pretty annoying to do every time you set it up...

Really love it, but setup is a bit difficult for a beginner. I'll keep researching the setup, but it is not plug in play for tracking the sky. The lens that comes with it provides a beautiful view of the moon, and can almost make out the stripes on Jupiter. Venus looks a bit smaller than the moon does with the naked eye. Ordered the Celestron lens kit and will try it out on the next clear night. Very happy I purchased this telescope.

I love the idea, but it's more difficult to use than I'd hoped. The sighting reticle could be much better. The scope itself is awesome. I don't know why (with what is now the relatively cheap option of using GPS) this wasn't built into the scope. The find 3 bright objects thing, even after you've told it where you are on the planet (which out to tell it the altitude) and what time of day it is where you are seems superfluous; and it is cumbersome.

got it for an eleven year old who wanted to see the stars. he likes it but it has a learning curve when you try to find them. but for the price you cant beat it to see if its a hobby he is going to enjoy.

My husband has really enjoyed this for a beginner scope. Great Quality for the price, bags make it easy to tote around.

Great beginner telescope. We can see the moon very clearly - on a clear and bright night, we can make out craters and other large features.We can find Jupiter and Saturn, although they are very small. We could just barely make out the equatorial bands on Jupiter and barely make out the rings of Saturn. Easy to set up and find objects, a little hard to make small adjustments when viewing.

I am really just a beginner when it comes to star gazing. I purchased this telescope because it did get some good reviews and also the price was very reasonable. I feel its a very good telescope. It does just what its suppose to do. The moon looks great when viewing through this as do the stars. If star gazing is more of a hobby for you then I wouod recommend this scope. The only down fall is the tripod size. The small tripod just isn't practical. I went and purchased a full size tripod from walmart for about 12 bucks and it works better for my needs. Like I said, you can't beat this for the price.

For the price, it's well worth it.

My daughter loves this. We (cough, Santa) gave this to her for Christmas. We were able to see the amazing full moon in all of it's crater-ours glory. For a guy who has never touched a telescope, this was insanely easy to use. Intuitive and quick to set up and get going. It seemed to be made of quality materials and was easy to focus. I would give it a 5 star rating but I have no reference with telescopes and while I am perfectly satisfied with this product I recognize that I may be basking in my ignorant bliss. I can honestly say this is the telescope of my budget restricted dreams.

While I have not set this up completely yet, or thus tried it out, I am extremely unhappy that the assembly documentation does not match the hardware. The tube is not assembled to the drive yet all the documentation shows that it is pre-assembled. For this amount of money I would think the documentation and hardware would be/should be in sync. WTF

Foto de jupiter

Ownership at time of review: 2 years 6 months.The not great news:The software it ships with is amazing, however the drivers don't explicitly have the 8se, so you have to know your focal point and some other technical data to hand install the 8se, and also which com port number is the USB you have it plugged into. ... I work with computers, so it only took a moment to look up, but I think this would stop many average users in their tracks.We spend half our time aligning it. The power adapter wiring just decided to stop working, I had to cut it and redo wiring to the plug. That took a while to diagnose, since the only symptom was it randomly turning off. Which is quite frustrating, since I'm no pro, and aligning takes so much time.Once it's setup, if you breath heavily, it starts wobbling around. If a shallow breeze has a mild gust, it wobbles. Which isn't really noticeable or bad, until you go to use a lens smaller than 17mm. Since this is an 8 inch, on great nights, you really can go down to 6mm usefully. So the wobbling is quite noticeable, and annoying.On to the good part:We got to see the moon better than any pictures I've ever seen in my life.We took pictures of Jupiter with our cell phones, that look better than I've ever seen in textbooks.I saw nebulae with my bare eye!Hindsight:If I'd had known how much we were going to enjoy this, I'd have splurged on a slightly better model, two arms for more steady, and auto-aligning. If you can, go to an astro get together near you and get an idea of what set up is involved, as well as what all you can see with different type scopes.

Good telescope. Got it for our daughter. It takes a lot of work to get is setup, maybe a little too much for a beginner, I have no regrets with this purchase but wouldn't get it for someone too young as it might be too discouraging

Much more complicated than adwertised

I don't want to say this is a bad telescope, because it gets the job done, but I can honestly say this was nothing like what I expected.My biggest complaint is that (unless I'm doing something TERRIBLY wrong) the pictures of Jupiter on the Amazon site are very misleading. If you expect to be able to see images like that, you are going to be as disappointed as I was. Jupiter looks like a tiny white star, as does just about every other planet I try to look at. It's still cool to look at, and you can make out the two moons (as two tinier dots), but it doesn't look anything like those pictures. The only really cool planet to look at is Saturn, because you can see the rings, but it's still a tiny thing.Other than that, the SkyAlign feature hasn't worked very well for me either. I would line up three bright stars (or two and the moon), it would say it was aligned, but then it would never point at the right thing. This could be user error, though, as I don't see many complaints about this.If you want to look at the moon, this thing is great! You can really make out the craters and everything. It's also good for just general star gazing. This is my first telescope, so it's entirely possible that my complaints are just inexperience. It's just for $500 I expected a much better view of the planets than what I got.One last thing I'll throw out there is that the camera attachment (sold separately) doesn't seem to work to well either. I actually got better pictures with my iPhone through the lens piece than I did with a Nikon D5000 using the attachment.If I'm doing something wrong with this telescope, then PLEASE someone let me know and I'll happily change my review.

Good for looking at the moon that is about it. Gave it three stars because for looking at the moon it is better than binoculars but only slightly. not good for looking at the Planets a better telescope will be needed for that.

We bought this for my 11 year old daughter and it's.... not what we expected. Next time we will spend more money and get what we really want (which is a telescope that can SHOW you the Moon and also some of the closest planets) We haven't been able to see much of anything with this. I suspect a pair of binoculars are more effective.

Out of the bag and box it works ok. Great views of the moon and it's features, but limited with others. This has been hampered due to use through windows due to weather. Recommended to get a larger tripod for use as this one is far too small. It is very difficult to focus with the 4mm lens. It is a great size for travel.

Great little telescope and delivery was quick as promised but i gave it a three star rating because of enclosed instructions. They were so confusing i went to a friendly local place and smiled nicely and asked for assistance in assembling it. I thought pieces were missing but not so; i am usually good in this stuff and like assembling stuff but this one had me scrambling to understand. Even the nice guy who helped was surprised. . Eventually it got put together. These directions should be written as if we know nothing as usually that is true. Other than that little set back, and now knowing that a good pair of field glasses also suffices as well, i am ok with what i bought.

I bought this as a way to see if my wife's new astronomy hobby was going to be a serious hobby or not. This scope works fine for the moon, but anything else you see will more or less look the same as with the naked eye.A few issues we find:1. Its not very stable. Not the tripod itself, but every part feels loose, so when you adjust the x or y axis you have to over adjust because it will 'snap back' a few notches.2. The only supplied eye piece that works is the 20x. the 3x barlow and the 100x apparently either don't work correctly on mine, or don't work at all. I mean its not hard to find the moon, and all I see with either of those pieces (together or separate) is black.3. The scope can't tilt too far back with the supplied tripod, so you're very limited in what's in your viewing angle.That being said, all it took was one look at the moon with the 20x eye piece for us to realize this is going to end up being a full blown (and expensive) hobby that my wife really enjoys.

I'm not an experienced telescope user or astronomer and so some of the troubles I had may not be applicable to others.* To begin with, I was expecting aluminium tubing for telescope's body, but the plastic/PVC pipe is not bad either!* But getting the telescope and the viewport/finder scope(/or whatever that small tubing is) in sync is not easy at all - even with the three mount screws, it was much difficult to set it up right!* The table-top tripod and its fine-tuning controls, though plastic, feels good like metal controls and they work fine too!* No comments about that 4mm lens or the advertised 300x or 400x magnification! Yet to use the 4mm lens as it doesn;t seem to gather enough light and focus on distant object wasn't easy. And I don't know what formula they used to arrive at the 400x magnification!I know, I was trying to point out the problems here, but like I said earlier, I'm new to this and I'm not sure what to expect for around 60$. I used the 20mm lens during the day 'bird-watching' and for sure I was happy with the results - much better than my binoculars!

No rs232 cable!

The telescope itself is fine, a good product. The ancillary items are not worthless but nearly so. They cheapen the entire package.The spotting scope is somewhat flimsy but the real problems are: the lack of a cross hair in the scope so you get the exact center of the target item, You have to be directly behind the scope to even see the red dot and when spotting stars especially the dot is so large even on the lowest illumination the target is completely obliterated. You can get it close and jump the the telescope and hope you are lucky to find the target - usually you don't and have to start over. Also the battery life of the spotting red dot scope is abysmal, maybe 30 minutes if you are lucky. Good thing on Amazon you can find a good deal on them.The second cheap item is the spot level provided. It has a peel off sticky tape on the back to mount the level. the first time you bump it it comes off and you loose it. It would have been much better to have the level built into the base of the support arm.The instructions are minimal at best and might do for someone experienced in setting up and using telescopes. I am not and bought this model so If I liked it I wouldn't have to buy a better model to improve viewing. Over all the entire process is user friendly at all!Have viewed Jupiter and Saturn and they are recognizable and the spotting scope does ok. Distant stars would be impossible especially if you use the lower powered eye pieces provided in the accessory set.

The scope is amazing. When it works. I can only speak for my specific order. One day (thats correct, 1 day, less than 24 hours) after receiving this I got the notorious and all too common "boot loader serial invalid pkg: 0002" <----google this before spending money on any of these models. This error happened to me literally within 24 hours with maybe 20 minutes of use. You'll also notice there are numerous online posts depicting this exact issue. Long story short I bought a $15 cable on amazon, waited 2 days and downloaded some software and fixed the issue. I can see this being a road block for some. Not what you want to do after spending $800, but whatever.*Side note, don't buy the Celestron 93973 Skyportal wifi module for these models unless you understand what kind of app you are going to be using. It's horrible, and I tried to like it, I really did, but it doesn't work 50% of the time. Do the same things exactly the same way and sometimes it connects, sometimes it doesn't. When it does, well sometimes it crashes or freezes and sometimes it doesn't.IF your unit doesn't fail like mine did and if you aren't planning on using the app, this telescope is great.

So far 1 star. Cannot get the telescope to align. It is not as easy as they make it sound. No surprise really. Have done everything correctly. Also note that the controller buttons do not match the directions.If i get it aligned, I will update.UPDATE01/04/2016:I returned it to Amazon in original packing and got a prompt refund. Not sure why the telescope would not align. Checked and rechecked date, time, time zone, GPS coordinates, etc.I have used a non-computerized telescopes in the past.

The first one I received kept shutting off randomly during viewing sessions so I got it replaced. The second one I received would not align no matter what alignment method I used, and the finderscope needed a wedge underneath it so it would align correctly. The first unit aligned perfectly with the two star method. I would align the second telescope and then go to Mars, for example, and it would be way at the top of the eyepiece. If I would go to another planet or deep sky object it wouldn't even be inside the eyepiece. I would change alignment to another star and it would do it again. The only reason I am giving two stars is that the optics were very good and the goto worked really well on the first unit. I believe if you are fortunate enough to get a good working telescope this may be a good telescope to purchase. Me however, I will move on to another brand, as the second one is now on its way back for a refund.

Purchased this for my daughter for Christmas. Set up out of the box seemed easy, sky align says it was successful and tonight Jupiter was particularly bright so we went for that for our first viewing. It tracked to Jupiter, the sky finder says it should be looking at Jupiter and yet when we look through the eyepiece we see only a tiny white spot. The planet is far more visible with our own eyes. I was expecting to see larger, more focused images of planets. Overall we have a disappointed little girl and some irritated parents. Have a message in to Celestron for some troubleshooting, but unless we are doing something dramatically wrong, this is going back. Completely not worth the price.

Not very easy to use..

meh

It's really fiddly and light, tough to move in small increments, and dark.

Not the greatest. My binoculars are more powerful and easy to view. This looks bad ass when it's set up in the living room but really performance sucks.

very cheap flimsy design. spotting scope is unadjustable so useless. must remove spotting scope mount, and eyepieces to fit it into carrying case. one lense had come apart during shipping. difficult to reassemble...lots of trial and error. Will probably make my 9-year old grandson happy but $80?!?! Really????

I am by no means a meteorologist, but I don't think this is worth the money. Spend a bit more and buy something you know will be legit. You can feel the cheapness in the product material and it is very hard to stabilize directly where you're trying to point it. I could not even get a good look at the moon. THE MOON! I sent it right back. If I would have paid half of what I paid for this, MAYBE I would have kept it just as a decoration piece.

Barely had it 6 months now.. and the up and down motor went out last night):-[.. $1000+Telescope didnt last a year, let alone through less than a dozen nights out ..so disappointed!!

The scope itself is fine but the mount is not designed well. With the equatorial wedge there is no AZ adjustment makingpolar alignment difficult.The only way to align the mount is to move the entire tripod and this will make the mount off level.You will spend most of your viewing time tinkering and releveling the mount. With the mount in the ALT/AZ position, looking straight up is difficult and in the equatorial position looking North is difficult. The mount arm is too short to attach a camera or other accessories because the back of the scope is too close to the battery compartment.

I thought I would take a chance on an Amazon Warehouse Item. BIG MISTAKE. This particular telescope's condition was grossly misrepresented as: "Item has no cosmetic scratches or blemishes. Item has no cracks or dents. Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged". This telescope had been disassembled and had fingerprints all over the optical surfaces. The secondary mirror had come loose from the mount and apparently had been rattling around inside the scope for some time, destroying the primary mirror and scratching the inside of the corrector plate. The secondary mirror looked like a battered river rock. The OTA had glass shards all over the inside. This scope was obviously damaged before it left the Amazon warehouse. Amazon should at least inspect optical items. Anyone could determine this scope was trashed and completely worthless. If the condition of this item was accurately described and priced appropriately, perhaps it could be a good deal for someone as parts salvage(mount, tripod etc). But this item is neither described or priced appropriately- I would suggest salvage pricing at $250

Hmm...where do I even start.. The batteries will have to be replaced after only 30 minutes of use (you'll need to buy the charger separately). The sky align doesn't work (I've tried alot, and watched video's and read the user manual instructions repeatedly trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Oh, and when it arrived I couldn't even use the controls until, after searching forums for answers, I had to reload the firmware (which of course they don't include the necessary cable). Now the last time I tried using it the display started scrolling multiple messages over top of each other making it impossible to read. I've tried calling Celestron's tech support but regardless of what time I call it always says they're experiencing higher than average call volume. So after waiting 30 minutes without getting through I decided to try their online live chat support since the onhold phone message kept saying it was faster. Lo and behold, the live chat isn't available! But they give you the option to submit a support ticket, which they say will be replied to as soon as possible.. Apparently they must have alot of problems to address since it's been three days and I still haven't heard back from them!

Purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband and it was broken out of the box. There was no apparent damage but it will only slew in one direction in the azimuth plane. Absolutely zero documentation or users manual was included with the product. I'm wondering if this is not a refurb or a total knock off. I except much more when spending this kind of money. Will be returning for refund along with all accessories and avoiding all Celestron products in the future. Very disappointed.

Terrible. Cannot align anything, after leveling the system and using scope finder. Would love to return.

could never get it to work properly

I was very disappointed with the quality. I feel I should have paid $25.00 at most for this.

I don't remember the reviews being so low for this when I bought it. Save yourself some trouble. Do not buy it. I got it as a gift, and it was hard to put together, and once I saw it put together (gave it as a gift in the box), it looked cheap. The tripod is short and flimsy plastic, even the case is cheap looking and feeling..

Looks like it was used and repacked. One of the lense was unpacked and stickers on some parts looked worn. I'm not happy!

Cheap plastic kiddie telescope. I can't even get it to work. I was so excited to try it out with my kids but had a major let down. I tried several times but too late to return now! =(

Opened box and case for the telescope had large water spots all over it yet everything else was sealed in plastic, didn't bother to open any further and returned it.