Reviews & Ratings for Celestron NexStar 5SE Telescope 11036 - 5" Computerized Schmidt-Cassegrain — 16 reviews — Page 1

This is a great telescope! It balances performance and portability. Really like it! You can see Jupiter and it’s moons and the rings on Saturn. The portability lends well to taking it camping. I can get it setup and be looking at the heavens in 10 minutes.

Good scope. Learning curve is steep. Download and print some good star maps. You will probably need an external power supply and a variety of optics. I'm using a power supply and long extension cord for now. Batteries drain fast. You will need a bag to transport and protect scope. Shipping box does have foam and will do for a while. Was able to connect camera and take some good photos of moon with filters. Lots of fun on a camping trip.

The Telescope Assy. seems to be Ok but, all DVDs and cables are incomplete and have not been able to play nor download any of the 3 DVD on anything. The written instructions are not easy to understand, for the time being started to collect dust.

I carefully considered the "pros" and "cons" of this telescope. For my uses, it works well. I generally cannot go star gazing in my back yard, but have to travel to a "less light polluted" location. I must admit that everything one purchases in this life is a compromise.

In this case the NextStar 5SE was the best compromise I could make. It is small enough and light enough to transport without a lot of hassle, yet provides reasonable celestial observation qualities. It certainly is not the best telescope in its class, but provides the best viewing value for the $. It is easy to transport and set up, the “GoTo” feature works well and is easy to understand. The only “con” for this is the lack of a GPS for the time and location information that you have to enter manually.
Overall I would recommend this Celestron NextStar to anyone that is new to the hobby with a limited budget. I must say that my friend that has the larger “8SE” is impressed with the smaller “5SE”. He claims that it is not practical to move the “8SE” around like I can with the “5SE”. He and I sent only 3 nights so far with the new toy, yet we are both pleased with its performance.

The NexStar 5SE was ordered on 11-16-2014 and has not been delivered as it was lost at your shipping facility and since then has been recently found yet the item status shows on order and a tracking number has not been generated yet.

This is a wonderful product! The optics are great and it is very easy to use. Aligning is simple with Sky Align. I bought this telescope because I wanted something that was more portable than my 11 inch telescope. This one is perfect for me. I can see myself using this telescope the majority of the time. I have not had a chance to use much of the eyepiece/filter kit yet, but I am happy with the eyepiece that came with the telescope. I am still waiting for the adapter.

Celestron Nexstar 5SE is A Compact Portable Mini Observatory. It Is Ligth Weight (Less Than 10Kg) And Have An 5'' Aperature. SCT design optical have better protability and wider field of view. supports for 2'' accessories. Wedge for long exposure photography. Great amature telescope overall

I have yet to try out my 5se as I have had a few problems with it. Powertank really needed as batteries only last around 10 minutes. Just make sure you have a fully charged powertank or AC adaptor. Optics seem very good, tripod very stable and well made, drive motors could be better.
Have not yet tried sky align but looks easy enough when you set up the finderscope for the first time.
Would probably recommend spending more to get the 6se or even 8se which has better tripod and motor arm. Brought my 5se secondhand and was good value.
Pros: Well built, great optics,easy to assemble
Cons: Poor manual, needs external power, expensive

This telescope is the lightest for the size in nexstar SE series family. It have a 127mm Aperature capable to collect good amount of light. It is also easy to set-up and can be used with equatorial mode. The set back is with the price difference from Nexstar 6SE, most people tend to go for Nexstar 5SE. But if you want a scope with light weight mount and capability to do simple astrophotography, this is the telescope to go For
Pros: Light Weight, Good aperature (127mm)
Cons: For the price, can go for 6SE

I got this telescope for my birthday a while ago. It took me some time to get to know the setup procedures. The manual is a bit terse about the polar alignment. But once you get it all working, it's a remarkable piece of equipment! I did some modest astrophotography with it with nice results, especially considering the diameter of the primary mirror. Especially the PRECISE GOTO has helped me find faint objects (like comets and deepsky objects) in this light polluted area. The telescope became much nicer to work with when I got myself the GPS and a proper power source. The battery option has never worked for me. The motors of the telescope drain the batteries too quickly. In conclusion: an excellent telescope for the price, but do get yourself a proper power supply, a GPS and read about setup procedures on the internet.
Pros: NexStar computer, precise goto
Cons: Manual could be better, battery option is nonsense