Idea for sticky (What scope should I buy?)

[vulcan]

As the 'what scope should I buy?' is a very common question, it would be useful if there was a sticky 'What scope should I buy?' with a chart of 'scope vs intended usage' at various price points - beginner, intermediate, advanced plus reviews of popular models.

Binoculars - good for xxx, bad for zzz

Refractor - good for xxx, bad for zzz

Newtonian - good for xxx, bad for yyy

Dobsonian - good for xxx, bad for xxx

Schmidt-Cassegrain - good for xxx, bad for xxx

Mak - good for xxx, bad for xxx

Then a similar chart for mounts.

I assume that only moderators can post stickies??? How can others contribute?

[UTMonkey]

I think thats a great idea.

If I could add one other column it would be what accessories would you find yourself buying soon after which you perhaps should have considered (in priority of essentialness) at the same time as the scope i.e. collimator, planisphere, red torch, tripod (for bins)

[bm1980]

Good idea here is a great video for anyone wanting to purchase their first scope

[PeterW]

Try to stop people buying a scope "for visual, but I might want to do photography later" and ending up with less visual scope than they could have got with a mount that will kill off any chance of doing photography. I have several friends and colleagues in that situation... didn't ask me before they bought. It's hard to break the bad news to them.

PEterW

[Pug]

From experience on other forums, people will still ask...