Reflector or refractor for a starter scope?

[nmoushon]

My cousin asked me to look into a starter scope for her boyfriend as a bday present. Her budget is $100-150. I found several that fit in her budget just fine but now my only dilema is whether I tell her to go with a reflector or a refractor and should I go with a ALT/AZ mount or an EQ?

I first thought to find a Newt because best aperture for the price but then I remembered colmination and wondered how crucial that would be on a small newt for visual purposes only. Then that brought me to fracs and just the easiness of them. Found several Newts around 100mm aperture and 700-1000mm FL and found a couple fracs in the 70-80mm aperture range by 700mm FL.

Since I'm more of a AP guy I'm not as keen on whats the best for visual use. SOOOOO.....would like some suggestions on what mount and scope I should suggest to her. Thanks.

[nmoushon]

I'm leaning towards this Refractor: http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/refracting-telescopes/zhumellaurora70withmotordrivetelescope.cfm because easy of use and it has a motor driven EQ.

This newt: http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/reflecting-telescopes/celestronastromaster114eqreflector.cfm because its a nice newt on a nice mount and its on sale so otherwise wouldnt be in her budget.

or

This newt: http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-powerseeker-114eq.html because its about the same as the first just a bit shorter FL but includes a 3x barlow which is pretty awesome for a package deal on a starter kit.

Or if anyone else has any better suggestions I'd gladly look at them.

[badgerchap]

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=skywatcher+130p&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14705971685643164058&sa=X&ei=haz5UL7VGu-b1AWJ1YHwBA&ved=0CFQQ8wIwAg

I would be tempted to stretch the budget by £9 for this - more aperture! I would lean away from the refractor myself, I think there's going to be a bit of CA when looking at brighter objects, which one undoubtedly would with a smaller scope. Just my 2p

[Mr Fiery Jack]

I would go for a small dob to be honest, and I am a refractor nut. Don't worry about CA, far, far too much hype about it. A scope of that size is more likely to deter rather than encourage a budding astro buff.

[badgerchap]

That happened to me when I was younger - bad scope, put me right off for years. All fixed by a nice dob

[Graham Darke]

If the budget is as low as that I'd recommend an Orion Starblast 4.5.

[bomberbaz]

Well talking $ and not £, the budget is smaller than at first I realised. What about a simple alt/az like this http://www.amazon.co..._pr_product_top and this http://www.amazon.co.../ref=pd_sim_p_7/ and finally these http://www.amazon.co...ds=eyepiece kit

I know a lot of you will say no, not a cheap scope, not a kit but if we are talking a new, new astronomer, then to me its spot on. The scope will do planetary work perfectly well and the box of extras is like a little bag of sweets to keep hm interested and its at the given budget.

It comes with PC software and all this plus the star wheel should be enough to keep someone happy for a good while.

Baz