Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful first telescope
Review: The Nexstar 114 GT was very easy to put together and use. I was viewing the moon and Saturn the first night out. Having the built in motor and star database makes this telescope a breeze to use when trying to locate nearly any object. My one complaint is that the plug for the battery pack occasionally slips out of the telescope. Once that happens, you have to go through the alignment process all over again (which takes about 3-5 minutes).
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, and Easy to set-up
Review: This is my first scope! It is easy to set-up, and the controls are a breeze. Once you get it aligned it finds everything for you by the press of a button, which in turn adds to your knowledge of the skys by telling you what your looking at all the time. I do wish it was more powerful, but you can always buy stronger eyepeices. I only paid $302.43 Canadian for this brand new with tax! That's $196.72 before tax in US dollars. People were complaining about the battery pack falling off, but as long as your paying attention to it, and move the pack when you see the cord being stretched you wont have any troubles.
I recommend you buy the Celestron eyepiece and filter package if you buy this scope.
It's perfect for a first telescope if you ask me.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, and Easy to set-up
Review: This is my first scope! It is easy to set-up, and the controls are a breeze. Once you get it aligned it finds everything for you by the press of a button, which in turn adds to your knowledge of the skys by telling you what your looking at all the time. I do wish it was more powerful, but you can always buy stronger eyepeices. I only paid $302.43 Canadian for this brand new with tax! That's $196.72 before tax in US dollars. People were complaining about the battery pack falling off, but as long as your paying attention to it, and move the pack when you see the cord being stretched you wont have any troubles.
I recommend you buy the Celestron eyepiece and filter package if you buy this scope.
It's perfect for a first telescope if you ask me.
Rating: 
Summary: A good value for the money.
Review: This is my first telescope, although I've viewed the night sky with far more expensive scopes. I'm impressed with the capabilities and value (I paid far less than retail at Costco).I have not had the problem with the scope bumping into the base. However I do think the az/el drive system could be driven a bit better. On the highest rate - 9 - it seems to start up rather jerky, neccessitating a switch to a lower rate for short movements. The only problem I've had is with the various types of alignment. It's hard to use a magnetic compass near the scope, for the quick alignment procedure. I would attribute this to my lack of experience with the equipment, but it makes it hard to track Mars properly.
Rating:
Summary: A good value for the money.
Review: This is my first telescope, although I've viewed the night sky with far more expensive scopes. I'm impressed with the capabilities and value (I paid far less than retail at Costco). I have not had the problem with the scope bumping into the base. However I do think the az/el drive system could be driven a bit better. On the highest rate - 9 - it seems to start up rather jerky, neccessitating a switch to a lower rate for short movements. The only problem I've had is with the various types of alignment. It's hard to use a magnetic compass near the scope, for the quick alignment procedure. I would attribute this to my lack of experience with the equipment, but it makes it hard to track Mars properly.
Rating: 
Summary: Fine quality, but not the best way to spend your dollars
Review: This scope is certainly the best of the automated 4-1/2" scopes, but at the same time, I think spending that much on such a small scope is really not the best way to allocate your telescope dollars. Adding automation to this little scope more than doubles the price of the scope- and if you can afford that much, you'd be far better off with a larger scope. For the cost of this scope, you can buy an 8" or 10" "dobsonian" reflector from Celestron, Meade and other suppliers that has much greater light gathering capacity and much higher resolution. There's just no comparison between the views you'd get in a little scope like this and those from a larger scope. Automation is better used on much larger scopes where it's a smaller part of teh purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: Fine quality, but not the best way to spend your dollars
Review: This scope is certainly the best of the automated 4-1/2" scopes, but at the same time, I think spending that much on such a small scope is really not the best way to allocate your telescope dollars. Adding automation to this little scope more than doubles the price of the scope- and if you can afford that much, you'd be far better off with a larger scope. For the cost of this scope, you can buy an 8" or 10" "dobsonian" reflector from Celestron, Meade and other suppliers that has much greater light gathering capacity and much higher resolution. There's just no comparison between the views you'd get in a little scope like this and those from a larger scope. Automation is better used on much larger scopes where it's a smaller part of teh purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: Great Starter Scope
Review: This scope is one of the best in the under [a high price] catagory. I bought it because it was a complete package (scope, eyepieces, "go to" computer, and full-sized tripod). It performs well and lives up to the hype on the box. The "go to" feature really works - the sought after object is almost always somewhere in the low power field of view. The only flaw is the battery pack, which seems like an afterthought and is always getting tangled. As another reviewer noted, the tube tends to bump the mount when viewing objects overhead, which forces you to realign unnecessarily...
Rating:
Summary: Great Scope
Review: This telescope is great. I saw Saturn, M42, M31 and others easily. I bought this for my son and he was so exicted. My only complain is the battery pack. Some times it slips out and you have to realign. The computer controlls were great. This is a best buy. I am very happy with this. The accessory tray is a little flimsy though. I highly reccomend this.
Rating:
Summary: Great beginner scope
Review: When I bought this scope, I had great expectations. For the most part, it delivered, but as I learned more and wanted to see further, I ran into limitations. The box said I could use the inclosed software to control the scope with a laptop. Almost right. You can use the software, but you have to buy the updated Level 2 version ... plus all the extra cables .... Also, this thing eats batteries, especially on a cold night. If you're serious about star-gazing, invest in the cigarette lighter adapter. The manual has a few errors on some of the handset functions and the scope has a bad habit of hitting the tripod while slewing to an object. This is really annoying because you have to re-align every time it happens. I know this sounds like I'm trashing the scope, but, overall, I'm happy with it. Anyone interested in getting into astronomy could learn a lot from this scope.
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