Review for Meade Autostar Suite and Lunar Planetary Imager (LPI) Package - 04520

Author: MKLewis {!} , I am a full time software engineer working on image processing software. I am a former Navy pilot and budding astronomer. While I don’t have extensive experience with the telescope I have some experience with celestial navigation and operating observati, from Bonita, CA on Aug 9, 2007
Pros:  Inexpensive
Cons:  Hard to use, poor software, short USB cale
Would recommend:  no

MKLewis wrote:

The Meade AutoStar Suite & LPI is the first product I have purchased from Meade I was disappointed in. The LPI drivers are not MS certified and MS issues a warning on installation. The software does install and work, but the warning is disconcerting. I found the AutoStar suite very difficult to use. The planetarium feature is not particularly intuitive or easy to use. The Imaging software is absolutely counter-intuitive and very problematic to use. It is difficult to focus the image on the LPI and the magic eye focuser only seems to work when it feels like it. I could not figure out how to have the software stack multiple images for image enhancement and I write image production software for a living. The LPI has a very short USB Cable that means the laptop has to be very close to the telescope. It made positioning all of the components difficult and seemed it could have been easily avoided with a slightly longer cable. I found my experience with the Meade LPI & AutoStar software to be un-rewarding and frustrating. I am an amateur astronomer, but a full time software engineer and experience with computer peripherals. I would not recommend this product to a friend.