Celestron NexStar 4SE with extras

[kbp]

Hi,

My thread in 'welcome' has started to get a bit long and I thought I'd switch to the 'beginners help & advice' section. I wondered what SGL members thought of the following being advertised on ebay:

Celestron NexStar 4SE Computerised Telescope with £280 extra items have a look | eBay

I emailed the ebayer last night (who lives quite close to me) and asked him how much he hoped to sell the Celstron NexStar and gadgets for and he said £450, which is more than I had thought about spending (probably £200-£250 ish). I replied saying that I would give it some thought but that it was a bit too pricey for me. He has emailed me back and asked what sort of price I'm looking at.

If this is a good package for me (as a newbie) what sort of price should I go up to? I am quite a keen photographer and he is including a camera kit with the telescope, which could be an additional interest.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

Karen

[dark knight]

I have one of these scopes and have to say for a grab and go set up it is a fantastic little scope. I think they retail for around £450ish for the scope and mount alone. They are not ideal for astro-photography as everything hangs off the rear of the telescope tube and so clearance between mount and telescope can be an issue when trying to get anywhere near zenith, this is especially true if connecting a DSLR camera. The failing is really the mount when it comes to astro-photographpy and not the OTA.

What part of the country are you in, if your close you can always try mine out to give you an idea of what they are capable of.

So my conclusion is, it's great as a grab an go, but if you want astro-photography I would look elsewhere.

[kbp]

Thank you Dark Knight for the info & offer. I'm in Llandeilo so a bit too far to visit. Its tricky buying off ebay too as you lose out on the warranty, and being a newbie it would be better to have the additional backup. But then again if the price was reasonable, it might have been worth taking the chance.

Still thinking ...

Karen

[Charon]

Karen buy from a dealer like FLO or RVO it is not worth the risk.

[kbp]

Thxs Dex. I tend to agree with you.

Karen