If there IS added competition, I hope they use it as an opportunity to distinguish themselves by improving the consistency and finish in their optics, the one part that isn't easily upgraded/modded/fixed by the buyer. Gimmicks like this are welcome, but the optics are the heart of the instrument.

Skywatcher and Orion both use Synta optics. Orion sells Celestron scopes. These may show up in the Orion catalogs.

The fear of getting a lemon figure and the general roughness of the primaries in these mass-produced scopes is the biggest thing holding me off from getting a GSO/Meade 16"er. I'd be really interested if Synta came out with something in that size as their optics seem to have a slightly better reputation. - j