Need help buying my first scope.

Hi. I have been looking for weeks now and i just cant seem to wrap my head around what i should be looking for in a telescope. Telescope guru's tell me i need a large this and a so and so and i bury my head in sites and am overloaded with so many different choices it all ends up just being jibberish. I recently just came across a article in my rss feed .... http://bit.ly/RHCYwA ... reviewing the Celestron Powerseeker 80EQ Refractor Telescope.

It looks good and the price is in the range that i can afford. But when i talk to people they say for that price range i should just get a good pair of binoculars. That scope looks better then a set of binoculars to me, but again, im so new it just all seems like greek at this point.

So, this is what im doing and what i need. I am taking a intro to astronomy and physics class in a few months. I want something that can give me a real look at the sky. I dont have a lot of cash to spend on this at the moment, so $150 is probably the max i can spend. Actually i might be able to get it up to 300 or 400 if i ask for some help.. maybe... but 150-200 would be nice. But if there is a real reason to go higher, i would love to know.

So please, if anyone can help guide me i would be so grateful. I so confused :-/

Thanks

In your price range, it will be difficult to get a telescope that will be much more that a toy. You might initially consider a spotting scope which will allow astronomical and terrestrial usage and offer more magnification than binoculars. Later on when you are able to save a few more dollars, you can then get a higher "tool" grade telescope that will last you for many years.

What's the starting price for usable telescopes; And at what point are there dimensioning returns?