3x Barlow or 5mm eyepiece?

[adamazz96]

I currently have a 10mm and 25mm along with a 2x barlow... since I got the first view of Saturn yesterday I started thinking about buying an eyepiece so that I could view Saturn even better.

Then I came across the 3x barlow.

And that's when this question crossed my mind:

What would be the best buy: The 3x barlow and stay with the same eyepiece

OR

buy a 5mm and stay with the 2x barlow?

WHAT SHOULD I DO???

[John]

The Astrolux has a focal length of 700mm so a 5mm eyepiece will be giving 140x which I would say is the max that will be useful in a 76mm scope. A dedicated 5mm eyepiece would probably give you slightly better views than using the barlow and the 10mm (unless both of those are top quality) but a 3x barlow will deliver too much magnification to be useful.

[adamazz96]

ok thx