Special K

Good review and totally agree. BST offers comfort, quality, a good range of sizes and great value for money. I was influenced by so many positive reviews on this forum.

Yes I forgot to mention that the mount was a huge factor in my choice. I saw the astromaster mount and thought I could do better than that. The SW is downright heavy!

Its sad that so few people, inlcuding me, probably ever take one to the max because people either decide astro isnt their bag or they upgrade very quickly to something else

I plan to keep mine for some time to come as it is portable

Excellent comparison Astro—Baby, that's very useful information. Makes me certain I chose the correct outfit!

Just a note to all on the forum thanking for contribution on this topic as it helped me decide what to get. I just bought the SW130P over Celestron 130EQ and really pleased thus far. I'm in the blessed honeymoon period with a new scope and haven't come across the disappointments yet!

I opted for the parabolic lens of 130P over having a motorized version. Doesn't appear to come with a 2x Barlow however I've seen posts that indicate it wouldn't be worth much anyway. Next investment will be eyepieces no doubt and could do with a recommendation on a Barlow suitable for a 5.1" f/5. Not sure whether to get a 2x or 3x.

I struggled with choice of focal ratio and consider myself an absolute beginner even though I've tried the hobby before when I was 19. Had dept store Tasco 2" reflector that was absolute piece of junk!!! Did lots of reading back then so I'm conversant with terminology and concepts. My interest is more with deep sky so hope the scope will be pleasing in that regard over a higher focal ratio. It's literally out of the box so too soon to know yet.