binoculars

This is a great little telescope for the money. Two previous reviewers (who gave it a low rating) had quality control problems with it. I've had none with mine but I have had 3 of them with my Meade 4" refractor. The Meade customer service people were wonderful in correcting these problems, but it seems their quality control could be better.

Optically, this is an achromatic refractor with a very fast focal ratio. That means it's good for viewing extended objects like star clusters, Milky Way star clouds, large nebulae, pretty conjunctions, etc. Dark skies help alot -- the darker the better of course -- but good clear rural skies in Ohio are plenty wonderful. It doesn't have the aperture for dimmer objects but the brighter Messier objects, for example (and there's plenty of them!) are great. It isn't at its best on planets and the Moon but you can definitely see Saturn's rings, the phases of Mercury and Venus, Jupiter's moons and belts (the red spot is difficult at best) and the Moon simply can't help but look wonderful in any telescope!

The Autostar is really good. It's best when you align it carefully: use the north star to point it to north and use a bubble level to level the tripod and tube. You can find brighter Messier objects, comets, asteroids, the planet Neptune, etc, so easily! (But of course not Pluto, quasars, black holes and some other ridiculous objects in the Autostar database.) And you get better at aligning it as you practice. Be sure to check out the "synchronize" feature (in the owner's manual under the "enter key").

As others have pointed out, the focus mechanism is bad, and the tripod is not terribly sturdy. Together they make higher magnifications (which are not optically optimum either) just about impossible. But 50X is still reasonable with a good 7mm orthoscopic eyepiece. Also a good 32mm eyepiece will eliminate the need to buy a finder and give you wonderful wide views. A dew shield is a must in Ohio (reduces glare too).

It ain't a Televue, it's true, but for the price, this scope is hard to beat.

My 1st scope and I have no major complaints (except for the poorly placed focuser). Astronomy newbies beware though, this scope has a focal length of only 350 mm. That makes for very small images with the supplied eyepieces. I then purchased the Meade 2X Barlow. Saturn's rings and Jupiter's cloud banding now visible but still not quite what I expected. The limited focal length compels the 70 to be used as a wide field scope. Pleiades looks excellent but better through a quality pair of astronomical binocs. The Autostar is probably it's best feature and works as advertised. Prospective buyers will need a quality small eyepiece 4-5 mm and also a high quality Barlow to see planetary detail.

At first I thought this scope was an excellent beginner scope. Soon I returned it as the motor would not train correctly. I received a brand new one. Same or similar problem. Returned and again received a new one. Problems are; training motor is a negative, If you are using in a city or with much light pollution you can't really go much higher than 70X so don't worry about purchasing 1000x+ eye pieces as you might as well purchase Captain Crunch. The focus knob is in a terrible place and just assume that Meade placed it there so they could focus! I have to admit though, Meade did replace the scope (twice) and their service dept. seemed great! However, back to reality, If you are interested in purchasing this scope...I would strongly suggest either; 1) Spend more money and receive a better quality scope or 2) spend the money you are going to spend on this scope and purchase yourself a very nice spotting scope and a cold beer!! You will not be disappointed by this advice. Now go out there and get the job did!!