Review on 🌌 Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ-MD Newtonian Telescope: Ideal Reflector Telescope for Beginner Astronomers with Fully-Coated Glass Optics, Adjustable-Height Tripod, and BONUS Astronomy Software Package by Eliza Porter

To say I was disappointed with this telescope is saying nothing. Never in my life have I been so sad and disappointed with a relatively expensive product. I also wish my poor wife and I could get back the whole month we wasted fighting this thing. Right now I just feel empty inside. All my irritation and sadness is gone. I don't think I've ever felt so bad about buying something in my life. I feel like I spent a lot of money on a 'garage decoration'. I did a really good job for a whole month, working on it every day, trying to fix something else that broke, installing something else on my drill to change or fix something else. Finally I gave up. There is no point in further modifications, struggles and prolonged disappointments. It's so bad that I refuse to curse anyone else by selling it or giving it away and it'll probably just go to the recycling yard. To be honest I have had a Celestron microscope for many years and it is excellent. i really like it Having had such a positive experience with their microscope, I was relatively confident that I would buy from Celestron again. I don't know if I will ever buy anything telescope related from them after witnessing this bottomless horror and this is my warning to anyone who buys one from them. I'm sorry Celestron, but I have to tell the truth. Pros: The tripod is lightweight and fairly durable. The tripod locking knobs work well. It took a while to assemble but was fairly easy and the instructions provided were clear. I really have trouble finding another professional here. There were no other advantages. no Cons: 1. The RA indicator, not adjustable, broke loose and now just spins freely, so resetting for polar alignment is now just a bad sloppy guess.2. While partially disassembling the mount and trying to figure out what I could do to fix the RA indicator, I noticed that instead of bearings they use three cheap pieces of plastic like those found in blister packs or food wrap. Two of them were already broken so I had to throw them away.3. The grid marks and numbers on the RA and Dec indicators began to wear out almost immediately. The scope cover simply falls off at the slightest touch.4. The viewfinder was so poorly mounted that the dials could not be adjusted far enough to align it. I ended up having to drill two holes in the pipe to install the aftermarket finder. I threw the useless original viewfinder in the trash.5. The focuser is not centered on the telescope tube and is not adjustable, so after aligning the telescope you will only be collimated for one focus position. It took me hours to discover this. Tightening the drag spring helped a bit, but it still moved.6. The soft rubber pads on the focuser tend to just slide around rather than turning knobs. The mirror has a slight factory deviation such that 1/3 of the star vaguely resembles a stripe. maybe this is also a symptom of the focuser.7. The factory 20mm eyepiece is almost useless. I don't even know why they included it other than to add an extra 'challenge'. You will never queue for what you see. The right ascent grip also gives a lot of declination because it has so much slop, and vice versa.8. The locking knobs are very difficult to tighten enough to keep your scope from moving, and often just changing eyepieces causes the whole thing to rotate. The bracket will bounce up and down or flex at the slightest touch because it's not strong enough, making battling the grinding gears on the bracket even more fun.10. The mount is designed so that attempting to aim the scope anywhere within about 20 degrees of a straight line overhead is impossible as it will hit itself or the tripod.11. Even when the telescope isn't pointing up, one of the locking knobs on the right ascension scale will bang and scrape because it wasn't designed with enough play. Since the elevation scale is essentially useless, I'd probably recommend removing the right ascension scale entirely to allow for proper clearance.