Celestron Skyprodigy vs. Starsense system?

[tico]

Hello,

Has anyone been able to compare these two telescopic alignment systems? Does one of them have an advantage over the other? By the way, are both completely automatic or do they ask for some type of data: time, date and the longitude and latitude of the place?

thank you so much

Tico

[Cosmic Geoff]

Apparently the Skyprodigy is (or was) a built-in version of the Starsense Autoalign. Seems it was not popular and is being discontinued.

Read this unflattering review: Celestron SkyProdigy 130 Review - Not Recommended - Telescopic Watch

The Starsense Autoalign is not completely automatic - you have to enter the time and date (each night) and your location or lat/long (once).

I have one, and find it useful, but opinions differ as to whether it's worth the expense - now approaching £400.

[globular]

If you control starsense with skysafari on your phone or tablet (and I highly recommend you do - skysafari is very good) rather than with the hand controller, then it is fully automatic - skysafari passes through to starsense the time and gps location from your phone.

[RobertI]

Well below is my full review of the SkyProdigy mount a few years ago. I had some trials with it initially, but it has been generally good ever since. One nice feature is it has an internal battery and real time clock, you do not have to type in the date and time each time you use it, unlike many other mounts. However the mounts are now pretty old and there is a high risk problems with them I would say, might be worth it if you can get one really cheap. Personally I think your money would be better spent on something like the StarSense Explorer range of scopes, especially the Dobsonians. They are “push to” but have the advantage of using StarSense on your phone via a beautiful planetarium app. 

 

Edited Sunday at 00:23 by RobertI

[tico]

... 

The Skyprodigy 130/650 -950 €

The SS Explorer 130DX-400€

 

Which is your opinión? 

Thanks

Tico

[RobertI]

34 minutes ago, tico said:

... 

The Skyprodigy 130/650 -950 €

The SS Explorer 130DX-400€

 

Which is your opinión? 

Thanks

Tico

You probably already know this, but note that they stopped making the Sky Prodigy several years ago so you can only get them used now. Personally I wouldn’t pay more than €300 Euros for a used Sky Prodigy 130, but just my opinion.  As for the SS Explorer, I don’t like the wobbly tripod and head arrangement (based on my experience with the SS 70 AZ), I would think the table top dobsonians or full dobs are much more stable.. 

Edited Sunday at 15:54 by RobertI