Why The Big Price Difference.

[TJExcalibur]

Celestron c8 ota. Medae 8" ota is almost twice the price. Am I overlooking something?

 

[DRT]

Reading the specs on Rother Valley Optics website it looks like the Meade has higher quality optics, coatings and mechanical features than the C8.

The spec of the Celestron EdgeHD series looks to be closer to that of the Meade so is probably a fairer comparison, which a much narrower gap in price.

I have never owned a Meade scope so can't comment on whether or not they out-perfom the Celestron equivalents.

[Jim78154]

I believe that it is a "more bang for the buck" kind of thing, or is it "more pop for the pound" in the U.K. ? Seriously, the Celestron line has always been a "more economical" alternative to the Meade offerings, and it is my honest opinion that most of us cannot really see the differences between the mid priced and the higher cost gear options. Which is better is strictly a matter of who wins the wrestling match between the wallet and the ego. I can already hear the cat calls and indignant protests from some old geezer like myself that even with cataracts and myopia swears that he can instantly see the difference between the views, but come now.................. Can you really see it, or is it just that you paid somewhat more for your particular brand of "whatever" and feel the need to justify that additional expense. Just because someone twenty or thirty years younger than yourself can see the difference, does that mean that you necessarily should also? I agree that, "You get what you pay for." I also agree that We all have limitations and the wise man works within those limitations.

[ronin]

Do not know what it is but the Meades seem to be sort of built to last. At various clubs around they generally have Meade scopes as the club option. Even my little one I have fed it 9v, 12v and something where even it complained, it has also received 12v at the wrong polarity when I wired a converter wrong. It still works happily. So I guess they have added at least a reverse polarity LED in which is a very nice bit and even though it costs about 50c Synta do not do it and people get a dead scope.

I think the Meade Level and North alignment is very simple for people, equally I expect that Celestron could not sort of "borrow" it for their scopes.

It might be that in 20 years time you could still have an operating Meade, I know of several that are that age, mine are 16 years old. An old one but an operating one. This may depend on what Sunny/Meade are now producing and the philosophy adopted.

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

My Celestron C8 OTA has lasted me more than 20 years, and it has been lugged through much of Europe, and still holds collimation well, so build quality is fine. After 20 years, one worm gear of the (Vixen GP) mount that came with the scope needs replacement. Not bad, I would say. I have also heard many complaints about Meade electronics and service, although that may have been restricted to a certain phase of their existence. There is of course the difference in optics between Meade ACF and the regular SCT design (indeed the Celestron Edge HD is more similar to the Meade ACF).

 

 

[John]

For the older SCT's I believe that Celestron has a more consistent record of optical quality than Meade does.

I don't know if this applies to their more recent offerings though.