Lucita has a good point, though. That IS the type of comment that usually starts all the fuss. I'm not saying it should, but it always does. Look at how Lucita responded to the statement that the EON mechanics are as good as TV mechanics.

People have favorites. And when someone starts saying your favorite is no better than X, it invariably gets your back up and you start insisting that X couldn't possibly be as good. Not much later, the mods step in before WW3 and order is restored with a thread lock. I believe the biggest problem is that there are certain people (and i'm not trying to be insulting) that are gear snobs, and if you start insisting anything could come close to comparing to their top end, 3 times as expensive gear, they're going to step in real quick to defend their purchase and the reason they spent so much more money. That's really what it comes down to in the end. I spent $3,500 for this scope and don't you dare say that your scope, that only cost $2,000, is just as good because there's no way it could be.

And i am in no way stating that the cheaper optics do rate as high as the TV's and AP's of the world, but stating that something is "good" is a subjective statement. So when one person says my EON 120 is just as good mechanically as the TV102 i used to own, to that person, this is a truthful statement. For them, they see no difference. For another, there could be a world of difference.

Until there's only 1 telescope maker in the world who holds a monopoly, there's always going to be a "who's better" argument. Since i don't think we're ever going to see that particular day, one just has to get used to the arguments and learn not to be quite so defensive about your gear.