Newbie DOB opinion please?

Hello Everyone

This is my very first post here. Two years ago I was on the verge of kumping into Astronomy but taking car of the house became more important. I've now been bit again so I'm looking for ideas, alittle help, and reading "The Backyard Astronomers Guide" once more. With a budget of around $500 I've picked several scopes to look and check on Some are Newts and Refractors (Orion and Celestron). But I've two DOBs at the top I'm really considering.

One is the Celestron Starhopper and the other is the Orion XT8/XT8i.

I've read and seen that the 8" DOb is an excellent choice for a "nooB" as me giving great performance for the $$$$. The main question is about the "Intelliscope" feature on the Orions? For an instance.

The XT8 can be had for about $350 or so withshipping extra. The "Intelliscope" featur adds another $120. Shipping extra.

The Celestron can be had for about $370 with free shipping. If I wanted I can go throw in the Eyepiece and Filter set for another $100.(is this really worth it?)

I don't know much on the technical and build quality side of either one. I basically need to know if the "Intelliscope" is really worth it or should I invest the extra $$$$ in more eyepieces/filters? I dodn't think I can go wrong with either unit but I rather have more expert opinions. Thanks for your time and help.

**Update 11/26 8:45CT - Two questions
(1) Is the XT10 a better "value" in term of getting more and for the long term? Reason why I've seen someone selling a XT10 that I can pickup for about $425. Has two eyepieces(25mm & 9mm),shorty 2x, moon filter

(2) Just how much advantage a 2" over a 1.25" eyepiece is there?
Kenny J.
Nashville, TN.

Remember, the Intelliscope version of the XT8 does not have finding capabilities "as is" - you need to spend $479 for the XT8i, and if you want the finder it's $129.95 extra.

It all boils down to how much the "push-to" finding appeals to you. Personally, I'd just recommend some books and a star atlas and recommend going with one of the cheaper dobs (either the Celestron or the plain-old XT8), but some folks really like the finding capability.

I don't have experience with the Celestron kit, so I won't comment in detail.

Just go with the plain old XT8 and you will be quite happy with it. I own the Orion 8 plain old dob, and an Intelliscope in the 12 inch size. I can honestly say there is nothing about the XTi that you will miss. Now having said all that, I have to add the one thing you have to get, and I am suprised I am the first, a Telrad finder. Telrad will help you find things in the sky until you get the hang of pointing the scope. I could not live with out it, if I could live with out my Telrads I would refuse to.

Hi Kenny, Meade have just brought out 3 truss dobs 8", 10", 12", starting from $469 including shipping. The main advantage of this type of scope is that you can break it down and put it back up easily. These scopes are also good if you have limited space in your vehicle, hope this helps. Cheers, John