Good bang for the buck - Bushnell Northstar 5" Maksutov Cassegrain GoTo Telescope 1550 x 127mm 788850

Pros: This is a very nice and compact telescope and the stand is fine. The optics are superb and focusing is really nice thanks to the excellent focusing mechanism. Very crisp and sharp images. The stand supports the scope well (which surprised me) and the motors work pretty smooth. I got a very good deal for the money overall.
Cons: What I don't like is the user manual which is very incomplete (if I were a beginner I would have gone crazy), the useless 4 mm eye piece, and the NorthStar has also some issues. The NorthStar goto is good per se, but the light in the controller is very dim making reading at night difficult. There are too few alignment stars and I have no idea what the star alpha is. There are some prominent stars missing. Also, the stars I am getting after alignment seem random between 2 and 5 and in the end it doesn't matter much. The scope usually finds what you punch in, but sometimes seems to go "crazy" and go somewhere (after which you should simply align again). Thus far mine is not tracking as I have not found how to do it thus far. Certain objects seem to trigger "going crazy" more than others - mine doesn't like M52 much it seems.....overall I like the Meade Autostar better in comparison, but the scope in this deal is much better. Overall I am very satisfied even though there are some issues with "goto". I would buy again.
Pros: Excellent optics
Cons: User manual, NorthStar alignment

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.