Thanks Quads and Craig for your assessments. It sounds like for the money you get a pretty decent little package! I like that you can swap the more versatile #497 controller in (I'm sure there's probably a firmware update that needs to take place to take the ETX-80's specifics into account.)

So far as the motor sounds, I can live with that. I tend to growl and burp (among other noises) at times myself, so nobody will be the wiser. And this also keeps the bears away; at least, I haven't seen any on my 7th floor balcony in a couple years now!

Last year when I ordered a Flexi-Focus cable for the ETX-125, I actually received two in the package. I'm curious if the cable will work (or if it will even be necessary) on the 80. Any suggestions or has anyone tried this? I know on the 125, the cable helped dampen the focus "jitter" that would usually occur when just using the focuser knob.

The EP's are a bonus, although the same ones came shipped with the 125. I can either hang onto these and use them as barter goods at our next swap meet, or perhaps bestow them on an eager young new stargazer to help get him started with some decent quality optics. The Super-Plossl's weren't bad little eyepieces as memory serves.

Probably due to the increased size and weight of the ETX-125, my one complaint was that it ate batteries like popcorn (not too surprising, since it was moving a tube assembly that probably comes in at 25-30 pounds!) I'm grateful to hear the batteries have at least a little more longevity in the 80. One of these days, I'm going to have to invest in a decent battery or field power supply, but until I do, it's nice to know I won't go into debt buying AA's.

These are excellent reviews so far. I'd really like to hear from any other ETX-80 owners, and particularly those who have the backpack edition. Is the backpack padded enough to keep the scope and its components from banging around inside while traveling? How much room is there for spare batteries, and maybe an extra EP or two?

Thanks again! This has really helped me, and hope that it helps other prospective '80 shoppers as well.