Review on Discover The Wonders Of The Universe With Orion StarBlast 4.5 Telescope In Teal Color by Steve Arnold

This was my first scope. So I'm no astro nerd expert. But let me tell you, your mind will be blown.Shipped quickly, easy assembly, I glanced over the instructions. trial and error, it takes a little practice to get the hang of this thing if you've never used a telescope. The laser sight works pretty good, for some reason I can't get mine to stay sighted in perfectly, probably need to read the instructions more carefully, but the scope works fine overall. Focuses well, really picks up light. you know how you feel like you can almost see a bizillion stars in between the brighter stars? Well, they're there. You can stare into a dark area with this thing and boom there are more stars there.I did a little research before the purchase. This seemed like the best bang for your buck as far as a good entry-level scope that can collect a decent amount of light. Started eyeballing around, learning the constellations. the moon is crazy detailed and close up. haven't gotten a chance to view planets yet. but I see satellites all the time zipping around up there, star clusters. and I live in an area with somewhat bad light pollution, haven't even tried it out in the country yet where the view will be better.Maybe I'm nuts, but this is better than watching T.V. I sit out there in the bed of my truck in the driveway just eyeballing around, staring at stars. they're all different colors. flashes of light. you can really see them. like, you can tell they're just like the sun but just really far away. I don't know.A couple of weeks ago I was out there eyeballing the stars late at night sipping on a screwdriver and staring at one star in particular and pondering existence and if we're alone and whether or not there's a god and all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks and I can hardly put in to words what happened. but it was a religious experience. Strange. Hard to explain. Best way I can put it is that I was overwhelmed with a mix of love, grief, peace, a longing, fear, happiness and sadness, all melded in this one powerful crippling emotion. A presence. I no longer have any doubt in my mind. If you've never had a religious experience. well, maybe you'll have one eventually. I hope so.Aside from possibly triggering life-altering experiences, this little light bucket is your eyeball into the cosmos. I love it. One of these days I'll go for a bigger light bucket but this one is great. very portable. I've been using it as much as I can for about three months now, cloudy winter skies sometimes. learning all of the stars. the great thing is that the stars change with the seasons. Always something new to see, somewhere else to look and explore.Your mind will be blown! If you're thinking about whether or not to buy it, buy it. Stare at the heavens. Ponder existence. There's so much to learn, so much we don't know. Go for it!As an inexperienced amateur with nothing to compare it to, I've been very pleased with the scope and its performance. Exceeded my expectations, very well worth the money. I will come back and dig up this review should it prove to be cheap and break or have a serious malfunction. If no updates, assume I'm still out there in the driveway sipping on a screwdriver.*UPDATE APRIL 2019* - It fell apart. What a cheap piece of garbage.Naw I'm just kidding. Still works as good as the day I got her. Since I wrote the original review I've seen the planets, seen a band or two of clouds on Jupiter as well as the moons, seen the rings of Saturn, eyeballed Andromeda, the brighter Messier objects. star clusters. etc. And great news! Moved out into the boonies where I can really see the stars. Almost zero light pollution. One really clear night the ole' lady and I were camping and looking at the night sky. I put the scope in the center band of the Milky Way. you could see as many stars through the scope as you could see in the entire night sky with the naked eye. Its just ridiculous. Watch the Tim and Eric documentary on space. It will blow your mind.Great scope. She's been bounced around in the back of my truck on crusty rutted gravel roads and still held up great. I wouldn't recommend doing that but it is a fairly durable piece of equipment. SOON. someday soon I'll order the XT8 (the step up with the 8" aperture.) Amen brother.***2ND UPDATE JULY 2021***With the apocalyptic plague still ravaging the planet, its nice to know the ole' Starblast is there when I need her. She's still holding up great. Been bounced to hell and back in the back of my crusty farm truck. Mud, skeeters, southern humidity, dew. She's impervious.The stars don't care about the plague. They were there long before we came around, they'll be there long after. Its kinda comforting. When the bad man on the T.V. gets you all worked in a frenzy, just throw that T.V. in the yard and go enjoy your Starblast.I've seen all kinds of crazy crap going on up there in the sky. Spotted a new, previously not seen by me star cluster the other night. Even seen dual satellites up there, following the same trajectory. ALIENS. POSSIBLE DUAL ALIEN CRAFTS!Amen brother. Keep on keepin on.