TL;DR Review: Great portable scope. Get a separate tripod - tripod wobbles.Definitely recommended for anyone who would like to take a scope with them on a trip, for someone who doesn't have the space for a permanently mounted scope, for a student whose interested in astronomy, or as a fun add-on to keep in the trunk on trips to anywhere. It’s small, lightweight, and priced right. It’s light enough that a five-year old could carry it for an entire trip without effort, giving them direct participation in the setup process.This is an amazing little telescope which you can easily take anywhere you're going. Looking at the moon, you'll be able to see the moon in fantastic detail, clearly seeing the ridges of the craters peaking above the moon's northern pole. Aimed at any patch of the sky, stars will become visible when before you saw nothing but darkness.As with all telescopes with this magnification, you will not see the individual rings of Saturn, but you will be able to make out the halo of the rings. Jupiter's moons, though, will be easy to spot, but speaking of spots, you won't see Jupiter's red-spot. Mars and Venus are indistinctive.As for galaxies, if you know where to look, Andromeda can be seen. As for using this scope for daytime viewing of birds and bees, it's perfect.My recommendation is to pair this scope with a Gosky Cell Phone Adapter Mount (you can order one here on Amazon - see my review for photos and videos take with it) and use your phone's camera to capture some amazing shots. Note positioning the Gosky is tricky, so prepared to be frustrated as you try to get the phone's camera and the telescope aligned. It’s not a defect and it's not something you're doing wrong - it's just worth it, but difficult. And if you want to get photos of objects you can't even see through the telescope with your phone, Google "android [or iphone] astronomy photo stacking", "NightCap Pro," or "iastrophotography".What makes this scope a winner it how easy it is to carry around. The included backpack has enough extra space that you can easily toss a laptop or Chromebook in it - I have.It also comes with two high-quality eyepieces (20mm and 10mm) which allow you toquickly switch them up as needed.Each lens also comes with a cap (a needed feature), though I wouldn't fret too much if I lost one. The side finderscope is well aligned and will make targeting much simpler.But the tripod! The tripod! It's OK, but because it's tiny and lightweight, it's not stiff and suffers from touch-wobble. You'll repeatedly find yourself aiming for an object and then when you let go of the telescope or tripod, sometimes it will move out of alignment. You just need to be cognizant of this and use a light touch once you've locked it down to where you want to aim.Since I’ve gotten it, my son and I have used it in City locations and in the country – obviously it works great in both locations.So if the tripod is poor - why did you give it 5 stars instead of 4? For the size, price, and weight of the tripod, it’s what you would expect. A sturdier tripod will weigh a whole lot more and will be bigger, killing the portability aspects of what without the tripod would automatically make this a 5-star telescope. So it’s neither the tripod’s fault nor the Celestron’s. A better-built tripod would weigh more and cost a lot more.As a person who doesn’t read manuals, do read the instruction manual. Some parts aren’t obvious. I managed to figure out how to put it together but would have had a much easier time if I had taken two minutes to flip through the instruction manual.
