Celestron 130 SLT Nexstar or?

[smuudge]

Hi everyone, finally about to invest in a telescope (well at least the family are for my birthday!) I am a beginner and want to be able to move around the sky quickly so keep coming back to the Celestron 130SLT Nexstar.

I have read good things about the 130SLT but I'm aware that it has been on the market for some time now. Are there other scopes that I should be considering as well as the 130SLT within my budget of £350? Thanks in advance.

[MarkS]

I have the 130SLT and highly recommend it.  The optics are excellent and being a reflector you get a lot of aperture for your money.  The goto handset means you can easily find objects in the sky and after finding them it continues to track them.  You can even use a webcam type camera with a barlow or powermate to do some lunar or planetary imaging.

In my opinion this is an excellent starter scope.

Mark

[smuudge]

Decision made, roll on the end of the month when i take delivery!

Mark, do you know of any neat carry case/bags that fit the 130SLT ?

[MarkS]

I'm sure you won't be disappointed by the 130SLT.

I've never looked for any carry case or bag because a cardboard box lined with foam does the trick.

Mark

[smuudge]

Ok thanks Mark. Could you tell me approx dimensions of the tube, GOTO and tripod please?

[MarkS]

No sorry - I keep it down in France, so I don't have it here to measure

In any case you'll be much better off to measure it up yourself when you receive delivery.

Mark