To be fair I hooked up the camera on my Nokia 7650 to this telescope and this is the picture of Jupiter I managed to get

Although I don't have this one, I do have a telescope of this type, I use a garden table with mine, the sort of thing a lot of people have in their gardens, though we have taken it out and about with a folding table as well. Though perhaps the best support was a bar stool where you could view the night sky standing up.

A Dobsonian of this type is probably better at viewing the moon than far away objects, but I've used mine to see Saturn's rings and the moons around Jupiter, so it's not that bad, for the money it can be a great introduction to Astronomy without breaking the bank. The requirement of a stand is not the problem with this Argos telescope.

mike

honestly, this is a waste of £34... it'd be better to buy binoculars, even the reviews say it's well made but ultimately disappointing - it's the kind of scope that will put you off astronomy, low price though it may be

also, are you going to be taking a table outside?

I guess it is probably better than most refractor type first telescopes.

honestly, this is a waste of £34... it'd be better to buy binoculars, even the reviews say it's well made but ultimately disappointing - it's the kind of scope that will put you off astronomy, low price though it may be

also, are you going to be taking a table outside?

true
true, if you're lucky enough to have a garden, what about if you want to use away from home? but if you're using it in your garden, then one would assume you will be suffering from light pollution too, as not everyone lives out in the sticks

check the reviews, as I stated, well made but disappoints with craters on the moon even appearing blurred... get some binoculars instead, far more practical and portable

if you're spending less than £100 on a scope, you genuinely are throwing money away... you can get celestron 25×70 bins plus a tripod (as they can be heavy when holding for long periods) for around £80, get a much bigger field of view and no disappointment

here's an honest review of this scope..
https://10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/cheap-scope-review-the-celestron-firstscope/

Utter rubbish value and spend are not always equivalent, my Dobsonian cost way less than £100, works great on a garden table, and we (me, the wife and the kids) were able to see Saturn's rings, whilst viewing from a site quite close to the relatively small city of Manchester, so not likely to have much light pollution.

I purchased my scope from a dedicated store, where I asked their advice, maybe that's a good bet rather than buying off the internet.

I wouldn't buy this particular telescope, but equally well I think it's a bit unfair to judge based on price, because there are good 'scopes out there without breaking the bank.

mike

To be fair I hooked up the camera on my Nokia 7650 to this telescope and this is the picture of Jupiter I managed to get

The review posted should be considered with the very reduced price - this is an excellent price and will meet the needs of many. Heat added

As a new starter scope, the review posted above, is a fair description I think. There has to be a starting point somewhere and this price is very good as an intro, Like everything, it will lead to kindling the fire of interest before you move on to something better, for not much more money. Read the review, look at the price and you wont go far wrong. Heated for the price.