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Bob Campbell
newbie
Reged: 09/17/04
Posts: 2
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Hi
I'm in the market for a 20x80 bino. Have owned a 15x70 (Bear), 30x80 (Helios) and currently own a Pentax 7x50. Ideally, I would like a lightweight like the burgess 20x80 lw or the oberwerk.
Telescope warehouse has a 20x80 in E-Bay now. He thinks they are the cat's meow, far better than the $85+12 he is asking. I found out they are visioners by asking, they look like Zhumell's, but looks can be deceiving. They are not LW, being about 6 lbs, so that is a potential disadvantage.
Anybody have any experience with these? The specs look reasonable; if they are anything like the visioner 12x60s it might be a very good choice.
Any info or comments would be appreciated! 
Bob
Edited by EdZ (11/15/06 03:59 PM)
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photonovore
Moonatic
Reged: 12/24/04
Posts: 2472
Loc: tacoma wa
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These appear to be Barska X-trails, but unbranded and lacking the lifetime factory warranty. I didn't see a weight in the listing...but 6 lbs is what the Barska's weigh, in-the-case.
--------------------
Mardi
4" achromat, ETX-70.
Whitepeak Lunar Observatory Website
Edited by EdZ (11/15/06 04:01 PM)
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Erik D
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 2551
Loc: Central New Jersey, USA
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Bob,
welecom to CN.
A lot of people post here asking if Brand X is "just as good as" ****. There is no way to be sure till you have both and do a side-by-side comparsion for a few nights. Chinese giant binos are already very competitively priced. I would NOT expect one selling for 1/2 the price to perform the same. There is another thread here about seeing scratchs on a new pair Celestron 15X70s. The next pair had collimation problem and the next ...... This person tried four pairs and finally gave up and ordered somthing else.
I usually do a lot of research before purchasing optical equipment and I keep them more than a few years. Currently have 4 pairs of bino between 80-100mm. To me the price difference of $50 or $100 is about 2 or 3 tanks of regular gas. I go thru that in about 2 weeks. I plan to enjoy my binos a lot longer than that. Buying from Ebay is fine if the goal is to pay the lowest price for a pair of 20X80s. Not where I would make my purchase..... I would like better than 50-50 chance of getting a quality pair.
BTW, I have no specific knowledge of the brand or vendor you mentioned in your post. Just sharing my experience of purchasing about a dozen binos and reading thousand of posts about astro binos in the past five years..
Erik D
Edited by EdZ (11/15/06 04:01 PM)
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grbrown
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/09/05
Posts: 643
Loc: Ampthill, UK, 52:02N 0:30W
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Bob,
Read Edz' (  ) article about binoculars that look the same, before you do anything!  :
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1542
If a pair of Zhumell is exactly what you want, buy a pair with that name on them, not something that looks like them. 
It is possible to buy bargain binoculars on Ebay - I know because both my pairs of Trinovids came that way, with big savings! But you notice I bought clearly branded and well known makes. 
With Ebay take your time and be patient - buy with care.
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Graham
"one eye good, two eyes better...the more I look, the more I see"
BT100-45 degrees, plus 35,24,17,13,9mm Sieberts
15x80, 7x50 Steiners
12x50, 10x42, 8x20 Leica Trinovids
7x35 Minolta
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Bob Campbell
newbie
Reged: 09/17/04
Posts: 2
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Thanks all for your comments. They will be invaluable for the decisionmaking to come.
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