Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod

Update January 2018:I used this scope for the solar eclipse and have been photographing deep sky objects with a wedge. It's still going strong and working fine after I replaced the front cell. I've had a few issues with the GPS receiver that I've been able to resolve. I recently replaced the nylon ball bearings in the base of the mount with stainless steel bearings in order to get smoother tracking for astrophotography.Update March 2016 - Parts are difficult to obtain from Celestron!!I had an unfortunate accident with my telescope while setting up a outreach demonstration in a gym on a cloudy night. I forgot to tighten the thumbscrews that secure the scope to the tripod, and then tried to adjust the tripod! It was a dumb mistake and entirely my fault. I typically am more careful but guess I was in a hurry.The telescope fell and dented the front cell (the bezel that the lens cap attaches to). I've since tested the scope with an artificial star and found that the optics are still very fine! The collimation was off a bit but not by much. I added "Bob's knobs" and was able to get a nice diffraction pattern during the fine in-focus collimation adjustment.Celestron refused to sell me the front cell!! They offered the option of sending the scope back to the factory but it will take 20 to 40 days and cost an estimated $300. I don't mind the $300 so much, but don't want to be without the scope for a month as the weather is just getting nice and Jupiter is nicely placed!I continued bugging Celestron, and they reluctantly agreed to sell me the front cell. It wasn't too hard to replace and I collimated the optical tube. It's been working fine ever since!Update November 2015, a few months after purchase:===========================================I'm still happy wit this purchase. This telescope has rekindled my interest in amateur astronomy and helped me to see the sky in a "new light". It's also been a hit with my neighbors when I've invited them to star parties. The GOTO feature is really useful and helps keep things moving. The tripod and telescope are a bit unwieldy to carry into the field, but that's subjective. It takes me about 15 minutes to unload the stuff from my car and set up at my favorite field not far from my home.I'd seen the planets before in my old 4.5" Newtonian scope that were OK, but have got some great views of the lunar eclipse, Saturn, Venus, and the moon with the CPC800 in the couple of months that I've owned it, and I'm dying to see Jupiter when it rises high in the night sky for me in the spring of 2016 (I'm not a morning person!).Meanwhile this CPC800 has helped me to discover the beauty of deep sky objects such as galaxies and nebulae. I say this with some trepidation because you shouldn't expect to run out and see images as you see them in magazines. The great ring nebula in Lyra for example, still looks like a small fuzzy doughnut. But it is resolvable and unmistakable in this telescope, whereas in my 4.5" Newtonian it was barely recognizable. Such objects will never look as you see them in a magazine because the human eye is not as sensitive as long exposure photography, and we're bound to do our observing from under a thick layer of atmosphere. Speaking of which, I'll note that I'm located in a rural area with low light pollution and at about 1000' above sea level. I've gained a new appreciation for how special and rare dark skies are. Pity the city-dwellers who cannot see the milk way! That's the way the ball bounces.I've started experimenting with astrophotography through this scope and have seen some colors in the nebulae through an inexpensive used DSLR camera from eBay. It's opened a whole new world for me but I see this as a specialized area that will take me a long while to master.One of the first things you'll run into with this Schmidt-Cassegrain scope as opposed to a Newtonian telescope is dew. Moisture in the air will condense on the corrector plate and end your viewing session before you're ready. It's inevitable. I made a primitive dew shield from flexible black foam craft sheets. This works well, is inexpensive, and buys you a couple of hours before the dew forms. I eventually constructed a 3-watt dew heater. These things can be easily purchased as well, but I like DYI when possible. Learning these things is a natural progression if you take this hobby seriously. Astronomy requires patience and endurance. Summer buzzing bugs - winter freezing feet - cloudy nights. But you'll be rewarded if you stick with it.Have fun!...It's a very nice instrument. I'm happy with it so far. I've had better luck using the one-star alignment method by just pointing it to a known object than by using the three star alignment. One star alignment is pretty quick and gets me close enough to find other objects pretty well.The tripod is very solid. That tracking works well. Images are quite crisp with the supplied eyepiece. The controller is fairly intuitive, although it feels a bit dated with the menu-driven two-line LCD display. I found the power switch LED to be too bright as it shines up from the base pretty much into your eyes. I covered it with a piece of black tape.The underside of the tripod has six triangular cavities cast into the aluminum. I added red LED light strips in these compartments shining down on the accessory tray and found these to be very helpful. The light shines down onto the tray and not into your eyes since the LED's themselves are well hidden in the cavities. I power the telescope and other accessories (including the LEDs) from a 20 aH sealed lead acid battery that I carry in a canvas bag.I had a great time with this during the lunar eclipse star party on September 27th. The GOTO feature was extremely useful during the eclipse. As the skies darkened and stars started popping out, I could quickly slew to the ring nebula or Andromeda, and then easily slew right back to the moon to check its progress.The DC power connector has a locking ring that is supposed to engage with threads on the DC socket. It doesn't. Celestron used a DC socket with threads that don't protrude enough from the base. I find it a curious oversight. The correct socket is probably only worth a couple of bucks. I worry that the power cord might pull out and mess up my alignment, so I tie the cord through the handle on the fork.The finder scope inverts the image and has a non-illuminated reticle, and the adjustment screws protrude further than I would like. I found that they interfered with my piggyback camera mount. So I'm not really nuts about the finder scope.I've generally been pretty pleased with purchases on Amazon. However, this is the most expensive item I've bought from Amazon so far. In retrospect, I would buy it from another supplier. Amazon chose to ship this using a freight carrier from a warehouse about 1000 miles from me, which took about a week. It arrived on time and in good condition, but later I later discovered that I could have bought this from another supplier in a neighboring state who would have shipped UPS without charging sales tax. I probably could have received the telescope in two days instead of a week.It's a nice scope and expect to get years of enjoyment from it.

Note: my review is for the CPC 800, since the reviews on this page seem to be a combination of 800, 925, and 1100 reviews. Also, I should point out that I'm an amateur with limited experience, and this is my first "real" telescope purchase. So I'll start with a few words of advice up front to help anyone who might be new and unsure of what to buy. First of all, if you are telescope shopping and are considering this scope, DEFINITELY consider the fact that it is big and heavy. The scope is about 40 lbs, and the tripod is about 20. I don't have any trouble carrying it around by myself, and it has well-placed carrying handles that make it easy, so that's no issue. But it is certainly not a telescope that you can just pick up and go stargazing with on a moment's notice. It takes time and effort to set up, and that can be a disadvantage if you get a "spur of the moment" urge to use it! You should also know that it doesn't hide away in a tiny corner of the closet (or your car, for that matter), so you'll need some space to store it and transport it.Now that my disclaimer is out of the way... All I can say is that I absolutely love this telescope. The quality of the scope and tripod are evident in the size and weight alone. I've used it many times already, and have no complaints whatsoever, aside from wishing I had a better yard and less light pollution! I've had no trouble doing alignments, and have even aligned it using the moon, Jupiter, and Sirius when they were all in the same general area in the sky. (The manual recommends that you align using objects that are as far apart as possible). Once aligned, the goto feature works extremely well, although there are times when the object doesn't center perfectly. I'm guessing that this may be because I align using objects that are close together in the sky. Unfortunately, my viewing area (so far) hasn't allowed me to use widely spaced celestial objects for alignment, but I will update my review later, if necessary.The hand control is fairly easy to use, and the layout of the buttons is easy to get used to. The display is a bit dim, but not uncomfortably so. It's nice to be able to choose between deep sky objects, named stars, planets, and even a sky tour with just a touch of a button and some scrolling. That means that you don't have to be an expert on constellations and star names, and can get right to viewing. And the view from this scope is outstanding, even in my light-polluted back yard.When I was researching telescopes, I didn't know much about eyepieces, so I'll offer my own opinions in case you're new to this too. When I bought my telescope, I also bought the Celestron two-inch eyepiece kit. In hindsight, it was a good move, and the 2" size is amazing. The CPC800 includes a 1.25" diagonal and a single 1.25" plossl eyepiece. If I hadn't ordered the EP kit at the time I purchased the scope, I KNOW that I would have been very impatient to try different magnifications. The view from the included EP is fine, but having more options is something you'll want right from the start. I definitely recommend purchasing an eyepiece kit (or separate eyepieces, if your budget allows) along with the scope. To be honest, the Celestron kit doesn't really include any "higher" magnification EPs, so I had to order a 10mm EP after a few weeks of using the lenses in the kit. SO... if you are a first-time buyer like I was, the 2" kit is a good start (it has 26mm, 32mm, and 40mm EPs, which give you 75x, 62x, and 50x magnification), plus a barlow lens that doubles the magnification of each lens. It also includes several color filters. It doesn't come with a moon filter though, so you might want to add one, because the moon is a target you'll go to a lot. I bought a 10mm (200x magnification) EP, and plan to add a 17mm and 13mm EP at some point. I may consider a higher power lens (like an 8 or 5mm), but I don't think there will be much use for such high magnification, so it's not a pressing concern.As other reviewers mentioned, the scope does NOT come with a power cord (which seems a bit odd), so you'll need one of those, or a power tank. I bought the smaller Celestron powertank, and couldn't be happier. It's a must-have if you plan to take the scope to the country for clear, dark skies and don't want to drain your car battery. To be honest, I've never even used the AC power cord, even though I've only used my scope at home so far. If I could do it over, I might not even bother buying it. The powertank is easy to use, and has built-in flashlights, so there's really no point running an extension cord to use the power cord.All in all, I am extremely pleased with this telescope, and highly recommend it if you are prepared for the size, weight, and time it takes to set up. There is definitely something to be said for a scope that you can carry and set up in a few minutes, but that's really the only drawback of owning a larger telescope like this. The quality of the images you'll see more than makes up for the "longer" setup time. I am glad that I made this purchase, and would do it again in a heartbeat!