Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat little telescope!
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2011
I see right now that it's listed at $25.00. That's a steal. This product is great for people just starting out. Easy to use. Very sturdy base. Just look down the barrel toward your target just a little below it. Then, swivel back and forth, raise a little, swivel again, etc, and you will find it pretty quickly. The lenses that come with it are adequate to see detailed looks at the moon, Jupiter's moons (won't see Jupiter's bands)and can see the easy nebulae and double stars. I haven't tried it yet on Saturn's rings, although I suspect the rings would be difficult to see if you weren't in pristine conditions.
You could order this for $25.00 and stop. If you wanted to upgrade to Plossl lenses, (I did), I would recomend a 20-25 mm which makes finding objects a total snap. I would also recommend a 12.5 mm and maybe a 6 mm. I tried a 4 mm plossl to try and see Jupiter's bands and the telescope simply could not focus enough to use it. I had the same experience trying Barlow lenses. Simply couldn't focus except with the 20 mm. I read somewhere that Celestron had a certain Barlow of their own that would work on this telescope, but don't order any other ones just for this telescope, because it probably won't work.
A neighbor who was moving gave me his deceased father in law's Celestron 60 EQ Refractor. I tried the 12.5 Plossl and could see Saturn's rings clearly with it. I doubt you could see that with the FirstScope, although, like I said, I haven't tried it on Saturn yet. The plossls sure came in handy on that free scope. Not sure it's worth the money or not to get plossls just for the firstscope, although they do make the viewing experience significantly better with clearer views and much bigger lense holes to look through. The ones that come with it aren't bad, though. They are adequate.
For the price, you can't beat this scope. It's very portable and lightweight also. Great for taking on trips to places with no light pollution. Would easily fit in a carry on bag for an airline. I highly recommend it.
Update: I determined that the secondary mirror collimation was a little off. The directions online show you to align it with your eyeball (looking through eyepiece holder with no eyepiece. However, that doesn't get it perfect, and if you want to see Saturn's rings or the bands of Jupiter, it needs to be perfect. I used a collimation cap that came with another telescope and I got it aligned perfectly. A huge improvement. It's really hard to find a collimation cap to buy though. I only see laser collimaters for sale, and they are much too expensive if this is the only Reflector Scope you own.
