Reviewer: Kimberley

WOW!!!! This telescope is everything I had hoped it to be!! Each item arrived in great condition. Set up was quick and directions were easy to follow. Started set up at 9:00 pm, and was out to begin viewing by 10:00 pm. Beautiful, incredible views!!! One suggestion, align the finder scope to the telescope during the day. I am looking forward to purchasing a 2" wide field eyepiece, and also wheels for the bottom of the base, along with an adjustable viewing chair. This is a well made piece of equipment! Thank you ORION!!!!

Reviewer: David R

I couldn't be happier with this telescope. I've collimated mine several times and the thumb screws make life so much easier. My 9 year old sons first view of Saturn was through this scope. He was just stunned (and so was dad)! I've had several telescopes since I got into astronomy in the early 80's, including a Celestron C8. That was a nice scope and more portable than this, but I need the 10" mirror of this scope to resolve M13 to the core. At least it seems too! This one is the ultimate for me. I do not do any astrophotography, I am a visual observer only. Also, I did not buy the other Orion with the electronic object finder. For me, just being outside finding objects on my own is half the fun. And when I find something, its a rush.

Reviewer: Jim Hite

You should read all of the reviews for this Dobsonian. They are all 5 stars and they are all correct. To avoid surprises, you should download and read the manual before ordering. It is as detailed as it needs to be without being a burden. Knowing what you need to do before you start makes things go a lot smoother. The only surprise I had was the size of the telescope. It is big. It took about 30 minutes to unpack and check the inventory list. Everything came and nothing was scratched or dented as it is well packed and well organized. Assembly took less than an hour. It is very straight forward and I had no glitches. The laser collimator worked well and made alignment of the mirrors a snap. I checked the collimator and the beam is accurate at six feet - maybe more but six feet is far enough. Telescope movement is very smooth and without backlash. I can easily go over 200 power although things move by pretty fast at that power. This is one fine product from Orion. As always, my thanks to the excellent Orion technical staff for answering my questions before I ordered.

Reviewer: Richard Dookie

Its one great scope,you get much more than what you pay for, couldn't ask for anything better.

Reviewer: Eric King

I just Recieved my NEW XT10 Dob on wednesday june 4th...and it couldn't have come at a better time. This is my VERY VERY first telescope...so YES, i am a newb at amatur astronomy. This Dob, even for a beginner like myself is PERFECT and (pardon the pun) STELLAR for the MONEY. On my very first night of use, I was well rewarded with the beautiful crystal clear view of Jupiter and its moons Io and Eurpoa crossing over and eclipsing. I admit at first, I had to figure out (which) eye-pieces to use first. But my heart melted when i finally got to see Jupiter and the Jovian moons my VERY first night. This scope is TOP NOTCH! It was easy to use and to collimate with the bonus lasermate deluxe... When i bought it I ALMOST went for the XT8. I tried to rationalize the thought of saving money but yet still desired to see DEEP DEEP space... SO..ask yourself this, do you want to save money in the short term or long term. for me...IF i wouldn't have got the XT10 NOW... i would have been craving more and bought it later on. granted, nothing wrong with having 2 scopes... but do yourself the favor, pay just A LITTLE extra and GO ALL THE WAY... your eyes will thank you for the beauty of the heavens it has long desired to see.

Reviewer: Arthur Rhodes

I have waited 6 mths to write a review so I could see how well the XT10 stands up to travel and regular use. After many club star parties, National Science Day, camp outs, and Cub Scout viewings, this telescope has held up very well. Viewers at the Science Day activities said the XT10 was clearer than the local collage observertory telescope. If you are stepping up from a smaller telescope you may find that seeing too much is a little confusing, but several viewings will get you over that. This telescope can be set up in 5 minutes while more expensive goto scopes take a long time and a bump means more time before you can continue to observe. What more can be said?

Reviewer: Erica Johnson

I don't care what nobody says, This telescope is the best telescope ever made for the price. This scope is WELL WORTH â¿¿it.. You can't beat that, a 10in scope is all you need. Forâ¿¿ the priceâ¿¿ you want any other 10in unless its a cheap made scope. Orion is the top of the line. In my eyes they are number 1. You would be crazy to buy from anywhere else. Trust me.. Iâ¿¿ve looked through plenty of scopes and Orion telescopes are the best yet!!! You can see pretty much all the deep sky objects you want. The moon will blow your mind. Saturn is breath taking to look at in this scope. I also have the Orion SpaceProbe 130 and when I first saw Saturn I was shocked by the amazing view. But when I saw Saturn through my 10in it knocked my socks off. Really it will blow your mind. Jupiter is another planet that will blow your mind. That is my favorite planet to look at, You can see it's 4 main moons. You can see alot of detail on Jupiter...... Anyway I think I have said enough. â¿¿ You will be blown away by how easy it is to handle. You dont have all them knobs and bolts to deal with. A 2yr old can handle this scope, Im not talking about carrying it because it is kind of heavy, but when it comes to looking around the night sky with this, you can use 1 finger to point the scope where you want to look. It is perfectly balanced, A Rock Solid base equipped with a carrying handle......... just buy this scope so you want waste your money on something else. That is what I did, My first scope was the Orion Space Probe, I had it about 2 months and decided I wanted something bigger, I bought the SkyQuest Xt10in and have never looked back.......... Great TeleScope......

Reviewer: Drew McKenzie

This is an amazing telescope. This scope is all you will ever need. You can see all of the messier objects, plus more. All the planets-and the moon will blow your mind. I would recommend this telescope to anyone. Trust me, it's well worth the money.

Reviewer: Richard

Great telescope at a good price. This is my kids and my first telescope, and are very pleased with the amount of objects that we are able to see even from the heart of the Los Angeles basin. Have seen great views of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter. Money well spent.

Reviewer: Harold W. Wilson Jr.

This is more than I expected. I highly recommend this telescope. I wanted something I could grow and learn with. I am glad the Orion company has a return policy, but there is no need for it. I love my SkyQuest 10, and you can't have it back!!! The mount went together with no effort and I was sky watching in no time. I had to only wait for the sun to set. I feel like a man that has had his sight restored!!! I could say more but won't for now. Thanks Orion!!! I will be a repeat customer!!!

Reviewer: Harold Wilson

I have waited to send my review because I wanted to let the excitement wear off just a bit. I have been sky watching for years with binoculars and wanted something that I could grow, learn and have fun with. The SkyQuest10 has been exactly that. I can't say enough about it. When it arrived at the house, it went together so easy and fast. I am learning more and more every day (or night). Saturn is so fantastic and Mars as well. The Nebula of Orion is so beautiful!!!! I can't stay in one spot very long. I feel like a blind man that has gained his sight!!!!! I could go on and on but there isn't enough time to do that. Trust me as a green horn....IT IS FANTASTIC!!!!!! I am glad Orion has a return guarantee but I won't be using it this trip. Nope!!!! You can't have it back!!! This Baby stays with me!!!!

Reviewer: Ty

This is my first Dobsonian Telescope and I was very pleased with the amount of stars, Planets and Messier objects that were easily viewable. If you want to get the most bang for you buck, you need to get one of these. Most people tell you that you can not do astrophotography with this, but keep in mind that you can convert this later for astrophotography by purchasing some O-rings for the tube to attach to an equatorial mount. And then buy the tripod with a GPS star finder. They packaged this telescope very well and it comes in two boxes. One of the boxes came with the base mount, and the other with the tube. This is very easy to setup and assemble and should only take 35 to 45 minutes. This is the most impressive finder scope (9X50) I've ever seen come with a telescope. It's stronger than the medium pair of household binoculars I have. You should not need to collimate this much at all unless it was shipped roughly. I wish I would not have used the laser collimator because I messed with the primary and secondary mirrors when I did not need to. I found out later that the collimator needs to be adjusted. The best thing to do is just to look in the focuser and see if the tiny circle is lined up with your eye in the secondary mirror. After spending some time adjusting the mirror back to where it should be, I was good to go. So the laser collimator is just a conversation piece or you can let you cat play with it as a toy. The first object I tried to look at was Mars was let down using the 25MM because it just looked like a star. After using a 2X Barlow lens with the 10MM, I could start to discern the planet but was still a bit bright. I did not see the moons quite yet so I need some more magnification. I figured I need to get more planetary eye pieces or filters. Plus Earth is passing Mars at this point of the year and is past conjunction. I also found some good Mars Planetary eye pieces on the Orion Web site that I've read good reviews about that I might try later. Saturn was very good with the 20MM and the Barlow lens. I could easily see the 5 moons of Saturn and with the 10MM with Barlow (220X) I could start to easily see the Cassini division and some contrast in the planet. But still need some filters to bring out the color a bit better. Plus keep in mind I am in a medium to high light polluted area, so that should say a lot for this telescope. The next thing I found by mistake was M42 (under Orion's Belt) and this was breath taking to me. This is amazing that this has been over my head for years but only looked light a faint dot until now. Finally, I looked at the moon during a full moon and kept the FOV at the edges to see the craters and mountains on the edges and was very impressed with the sharp focus it had provided me. I used the 10MM with a 2X Barlow (220X) and everything was still sharp at a high power. I can see details of the moon that I've never seen before and plan on looking at the moon when it's 1/4 or less. One thing I noticed was the Teflon pads on the base was a bit tight and noticed the bottom plate would want to turn at times. Maybe because this is new and I have not used it enough yet so who knows. I've only taken this outside once so far (DUE TO NASTY MICHIGAN WEATHER) and it's been cloudy 5 of the 6 days I've had it. Look forward to taking it out some more. [Note from Orion: Our SkyQuest Dobsonians optical tubes are optimized for visual observing rather that photography.]

Reviewer: Wayne Alspack

What more can I really say, if you're looking for a telescope with more bang for your buck you need not look any further. The telescope arrived in two seperate boxes with the OTA double boxed so no harm would occur during shipping. The base was a breeze with the included instructions and the OTA just needed a tweak to collimate it. That same night I had it out and what great views it gave me of M41,M42,and M45. The best view was of M37, I swear I could have counted all the stars, it was just that awesome. Viewing of the planets was just as amazing, I really have opened up my eyes as well as neighbors and friends to the wonders of the universe. I really do recommend this telescope, and along with the bonus accessory pack you can't go wrong.

Reviewer: Robert Fowley

I like it a lot.

Reviewer: Michael

Right now my main interest is in learning and viewing the sky. The XT10 continues to give me views the likes of which I have never seen before. I have been able to count stars in M13 and see almost 3D views of M42. Saturn shows its cloud bands clearly; along with the Cassini Division. Even though I live in an area of moderate light pollution this 10" light bucket pulls in decent images. Can't wait to take it somewhere really dark.

Reviewer: Steve Potter

I bought this scope a few years ago and absolutely love it. Now it comes with a Crayford-Style focuser and a 90deg. angle finder! You will not believe how the Andromeda Galaxy looks with this telescope and the 15mm Expanse eyepiece! I have helped open up the world of Astronomy to a lot of my friends via this excellent Orion Instrument.