The scopes I've narrowed it down to

[cutepetgroomer]

I've narrowed down my next scope to a celestron power seeker 114 eq, skywatcher virtuoso 90mm mak cass, and an Orion star last. Of the three the power seeker is actually more within my budget

[Laurie61]

The power seeker would be my choice, traditional long f newt, easy collimation. I had a very similar scope, Tasco 11t, and it performed well for it's size.     

[Charic]

....sorry Laurie61......I'm not normally this brutal?

cutepetgroomer.......I know were a Continent apart, but if you were over the pond! I would GIVE you my Celestron 127EQ for nothing. Why?

Its probably the best £30 - second hand,  that I have wasted my money on, and they sell for 5x the price over here, today? yes,  It taught me about EQ mounts and setting up a telescope, but after the first night of messing about with constant adjustments and tube rotations, I decided that this was not the way forwards. I ordered a Skywatcher Skyliner and it arrived  a few  days later. No regrets over its performance. And no competition with the Celestron.

The Celestron will also have a short tube assembly, corrected for focal length using a corrector lens ( called  a Bird-Jones?). This is going to cause you some problems, and some folk will even suggest a dismantling of the telescope corrector lens just to achieve collimation.  I think the Orion you mention may be similar.

Like I said, pop by next week and its yours. Seriously though, check out something like  the  Skywatcher HERITAGE-130P Flextube as an alternative.  Remember its just my opinion, about the Celestron. You will see the Moon ok, and terrestrial images (day time subjects) but little quality elsewhere.

[cutepetgroomer]

Charic, I've actually got family in the uk. Lol , I haven't seen him in years (he's originally from Alaska). So far the type of mounts I'm used to are the simple altaz and the goto mounts. I know nothing how an eq mount works. But just because I have no clue doesn't mean that I couldn't learn (I actually belong to a local star gazing group plus still can ask my old professors for help as well). I'm just trying to go for something within a reasonable budget my husband can afford. At school we used various celestron and Orion scopes. The eyepieces were all celestron eps actually . I know I was in charge of one of the scopes I don't know the exact name but it was huge and not on any known mount it had an Aperture of around 12 inches.

[houston]

Hi, im with charic on the celestron 127eq. My mate got this as his first scope. First night out and the views were dissappointing then one of the legs broke on the tripod. I got an evostar 90mm refractor as my first scope and it out performed the celestron easily.

[Tali]

Evostar 90mm refractor - I heard many good things about it and then I decided to buy it and I am very satisfied. Glad to see others being happy as well. I think it's money well spent.

[cutepetgroomer]

I'm sure it is and a 90mm refractor is also in my sights as well I'm just trying to finalize my decision

[nicoscy]

Stay away from the Celestron 114. There are countless posts about its measly performance in many forums. Bird-Jones type reflectors are basically useless for astronomy and possibly a reason why many people new to the hobby gave it up.

The Mak is probaly the best of the 3 choices as the celestron is just paper wright and the starblast has a very short focal ratio and will suffer from severe coma, not to mention being very sensitive to collimation. The Mak does not give wide field though like the starblast does, so maybe you should consider something in between:

I would suggest the Orion SkyQuest XT 4.5 dobsonian actually. Enough aperture and focal length to enjoy the moon and planets at that aperture and a sufficiently wide field to provide a nice framing of most targets within reach of this instrument.

If budget is an issue, always look first at dobsonians. Best bang for your buck!

[swamp thing]

The celestron power seeker 114mm is NOT a Bird-Jones optical system.

It's a regular 114mm f/8 newtonian.

Like Laurie I owned the tasco version. Would I recommend one......no

Not because of the optics, but because of other factors

1. The mount is rubbish, it wobbles like a jelly

2. The supplied eyepieces are litter

3. The finder scope is a stepped down single lens. It says 5x24 when it's actually 5x7. You'll find the moon and bright planets but that's about it.

By the time you've replaced all these you may have just as well bought a better scope to start with.

My advice. Keep saving and get a 6" skyliner Dob. This is a first class scope and could keep anyone happy for years.

It may be out of your current price range but I ask you to seriously consider hanging on until your budget can stretch to one.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

[cutepetgroomer]

How big is a 6" though? I have a hard time picturing it in comparison to something else. In the mean time however I am looking at getting a 1.25 inch eyepiece and filter kit, mainly because I promised myself I'd get one before October. That was back in April when I made that goal. The telescope is because I handled being in an airplane for 8 hours either way and I get claustrophobic on them and have a mini panic attack

[Charic]

The celestron power seeker 114mm is NOT a Bird-Jones optical system.

It's a regular 114mm f/8 newtonian.

Cheers Steve.......that was my assumption, we learn something new everyday.

[nicoscy]

Steve, my bad. I thought all the Powerseekers were of Bird Jones design. Apparently the 114 is not (whereas the 127 is).

Your assessment of the scope is correct as well, it is hardly usable as is. 

To the OP: 

Considering that for $230 you get a 4.5" dob, for $300 a 6" and for $360 a 8" dob, it is worth saving some more money to get a real upgrade.

Also consider classifieds to buy a pre-owed scope of better specifications for less money...

[C7tsj]

Stay away from the 114m Celestron if you are going for a true upgrade here. I currently own and use the Tasco version and it is pretty poor.

Best going for a dob (assuming you can move and have an area to set up). Perhaps the Skywatcher 150P, or even better, 200P. If these are out of your budget, perhaps make do with what you have and save up.

I am in exactly the same boat as you, I want the 200P but a new baby stops me from making rash purchases. Hopefully upgrade before the year is out.

[dannybgoode]

A 6" Newt is not that big.  I have a Skywatcher 150P and it is probably about 3ft long and weighs (including focuser and finder scope) about 5kg.  You would have a mount on top of that but by no means unmanageable.

I have had stunning views of Saturn, m13, the moon, Jupiter.  Really an excellent scope and if you look second hand can be had for a very reasonable price.  No need to buy new really IMHO.