Which 10" Dob?

[luminova11]

Another "which telescope?" thread I'm afraid. Which would you buy and why?

Skywatcher 250 PX Classic at £445

or

Revelation 10" M-CRF Premium Dobsonian (same as GSO GSD 880) at £478

On the face of it the Revelation would seem to be the better scope; better base/mount, better dual speed, focuser better accessories, alegedly better optics BUT I have read that the primary mirror cell is weaker than the Skywatcher. Is the mirror cell really that bad, or will the spring upgrade bring it in line with the Skywatcher mirror cell?

Owners of the two scopes seem to be very loyal to them so getting an unbiased view is difficult. I realise a dob can always be improved but assuming that the mirror cell on the Revelation is an easy fix I think you would have to spend a good deal more to get the Skywatcher to a similar spec by upgrading bearings and the focuser.

This is a big purchase for me so I don't wantt to buy a dud.

Many thanks in advance.

[umadog]

A significantly better mirror for basically the same price? I smell something fishy. Where do the mirrors come from? My suspicion is that they're Asian mirrors that are hand-selected based on test results. So you stand better odds of getting a good one, but fundamentally it's the same product. Nothing particularly wrong with the product, I might add, but it's worth knowing what you're buying. My bet is that the cell is OK, it would be odd if they screwed that up. But that's just a hunch.

[osbourne one-nil]

I know this has nothing to do with your question, but I once managed to build myself a 10" dob base out of MDF and some ebony star. Despite being to woodworking what Jim Davidson is to comedy, it worked like a dream. More importantly, it meant I could spend the money on the tube assembly, and ended up with a lovely Orion Optics 1/6th pv 8". Annoyingly, the only good thing about it was the mirror, but you get my point?

[umadog]

Me too: my first Dob was home-made with a premium mirror. The OO UK mirrors are quite a lot more money than the Asian ones, but they are thinner and probably more consistent in quality. So you're more likely to get a good one and it will cool much faster.