Excelsis - Display Vote

Bushnell Voyager

The relative ratings of this scope and the Meade ETX70 have made me cynical about ratings. A side-by-side comparison of the Bushnell Voyager to the ETX70 made me want to call up Meade and scream. Nevertheless, the ETX70 is credited with spectacular optics, and the Bushnell Voyager is panned. One reviewer on another site even declared that he saw gull wings around stars in the star test. I saw no such effect.

Very well, this isn't the greatest scope in the world, but it is fine for its target market: casual family viewing. The low-power eyepiece yields a very fine wide view - much broader than the view in the ETX90 at comparable magnification. At 100 power, it reveals surface detail on Jupiter, and shows Saturn clearly. The beloved ETX70 blurs out far below 100 power, and for $150.00 more, it never showed the rings of Saturn in my experience. (That's pretty damning, IMHO.)

At $180.00, there's nothing cheaper that shows as much as the Voyager. It has no snob appeal. It's not for the serious amateur. It's for the casual family, and it's well-targeted.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 07/28/2001 02:46:17 am PST
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.244.133)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40111

>The relative ratings of this scope and the Meade ETX70 have made me cynical about ratings. A side-by-side comparison of the Bushnell Voyager to the ETX70 made me want to call up Meade and scream. Nevertheless, the ETX70 is credited with spectacular optics, and the Bushnell Voyager is panned. One reviewer on another site even declared that he saw gull wings around stars in the star test. I saw no such effect. 
>
>Very well, this isn't the greatest scope in the world, but it is fine for its target market: casual family viewing. The low-power eyepiece yields a very fine wide view - much broader than the view in the ETX90 at comparable magnification. At 100 power, it reveals surface detail on Jupiter, and shows Saturn clearly. The beloved ETX70 blurs out far below 100 power, and for $150.00 more, it never showed the rings of Saturn in my experience. (That's pretty damning, IMHO.) 
>
>At $180.00, there's nothing cheaper that shows as much as the Voyager. It has no snob appeal. It's not for the serious amateur. It's for the casual family, and it's well-targeted.

Uhh...why did you post this on the Bushnell Voyager page?

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