Celestron C21024 or C21035

[SuebyDoo]

Hello Stargazers

I'm hoping you might be kind enough to point me in the right direction. My partner has always expressed an interest in Astronomy documentaries and I was hoping to get her a telescope for Christmas. I've seen the above two models (Firstscope and Travel system) but I'm really not sure what would suit her best (and I don't want to spend any more than that because it might get stored under the bed never to be seen again after a couple of months).

My questions are:

Are the above two models good beginners models?

Can the firstscope be mounted on a normal tripod or is it fixed to the default tripod that comes with it?

Is one of them a better spec than the other? Normally I would assume the more expensive one to be better but I'm really not sure about how to compare the specs.

Many thanks in advance for any comments.

Regards

Sueby

[x6gas]

I would go for the C21035 travelscope... I have one and it is not too bad optically for a small refractor and very good value - shop around though; I think I paid about £30 for mine (and make sure you get the 70mm version).

Beware, though, that the tripod it comes with is almost useless and you would be better off factoring in the cost of a reasonably decent (which doesn't have to mean expensive) camera tripod into the equation.

[SuebyDoo]

Thanks X6gas. We already have a pretty decent tripod that we use for our camera (I'm assuming we can probably get an adaptor to fit). And £30 is a lot cheaper than what I was looking at although have some vouchers which would bring it down to around that. Many thanks for taking the time to comment though.

[x6gas]

Thanks X6gas. We already have a pretty decent tripod that we use for our camera (I'm assuming we can probably get an adaptor to fit). And £30 is a lot cheaper than what I was looking at although have some vouchers which would bring it down to around that. Many thanks for taking the time to comment though.

The Celestron travel scope is threaded to accept a standard camera mount so you shouldn't need an adapter.

HTH, Ian

[SuebyDoo]

Brilliant. Thanks Ian

[LukeSkywatcher]

Nice little scope. It doesnt work too well with high magnification but gives beautiful wide views.

[SuebyDoo]

Thanks Paul