Overall Rating: 3
Performance:3 Ease of Use:7 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 12/22/2003 01:38:08 am PST
By: Shadow
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=327961

>To keep the average where it belongs to.
>Its not a AOK Wam, AP, Losmandy or so, which could be a ten.
>This chinese item is full of compromises and cheapest parts.
>
>Lamont

Not particularly helpful Lamont

>To keep the average where it belongs to.
>Its not a AOK Wam, AP, Losmandy or so, which could be a ten.
>This chinese item is full of compromises and cheapest parts.
>
>Lamont

I've owned over 70 telescopes and 40 mount as of today, and actually test them under the stars. My criteria is strickly based on performance, and secondly, ease of use. 
All I can say is that unless you do this, you can not fairly evaluate anything. From experience, and especially lately,  many lower priced chinese imports have very good quality, when even compared to the top of the line brands. As an example, of the 70 telescopes I've personally owned, 7 have had defective optics. One was a Starsplitter with a Nova mirror (severe turned edge), 2 were APs, one a traveler (One wave at the eyepiece....terrible optics, an obvious defective lens) the other a 5" starfire (also a defective lens), one Tak Sky 90 (horribly out of collimation), one Meade 127 ED (also a defective lens), 2 SCTs (C11 with print thru...due to defective corrector plate), and only one C8 (with out of collimation primary due to rough shipping).
Of the mounts I've owned, I've had 3 Losmandy mounts with RA rock, due to undersized polar axis shafts, including one G11 with severe cosmetic defects, that were obviously not shipping related.
What can you conclude from this...No matter who makes it, you take your chances. Just because you buy a Rolls, doesn't mean it's going to perform any better than a Volkswagan in a practical sense. The Chinese import optics over the last 3 years have been excellent. Most mirrors I've tested having 1/6 th wave spherical correction or better.
My latest addition, a Sirius Mount (an Orion brand HEQ5) with synscan GoTo is actually much more accurate, quieter, and faster  than my GM8 Gemini when finding and centering objects in the eyepiece. Sure the fit and finish is not quite as good, but it is nearly entirely made of metal aluminum and stainless steel. Even AP and Losmandy have some plastic on them. I ought to know, I've owned them.
Based on all this, I wouldn't rate equipment based on where it came from, but how well it performed.
That is the purpose behind a review....to inform. Something you are NOT doing with your ratings.

>To keep the average where it belongs to.
>Its not a AOK Wam, AP, Losmandy or so, which could be a ten.
>This chinese item is full of compromises and cheapest parts.
>
>Lamont

Yeah Lamont, what you wrote was arrogant in implying that just because it is Chinese it must be inferior (pish! have you read the gushing reports on the Orion 80mm ED??). And what you did was sadly misguided (deliberately skewing the vote downwards - did you actually test this mount? you've provided no evidence that you've even seen it in the flesh).

You _really_ need to read the intro to my report on the EQ6, here:
http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=372458

- your remarks have perfectly illustrated my point!

Why is it that you decide, as one person, where the average should be?


>To keep the average where it belongs to.
>Its not a AOK Wam, AP, Losmandy or so, which could be a ten.
>This chinese item is full of compromises and cheapest parts.
>
>Lamont