Telescope Reviews: iOptron SmartStar goto

Well last night I got out under the stars and gave the mount a tryout. The starGPS unit I have doesn't work with the unit but thats no loss.
Firstly the handpaddle has a small light at the back (red) which is very usefull for finding dropped things. It and the screen go dark after about a minute of non-use which is very handy. The mount has a few requirements to be accurate for gotos. Like all dumb beasts this one has to have a particular side pointed due South and the scope oriented in a totally vertical position. Easily done with good compass and level. Then just turn the beast on and do a two star alignment. The mount has a small bubble level which was accurate and used to level the cube (mount). Actually I was quite surprised, as if you go through this routine then it placed the object usually within the field of view of a 20mm eyepiece of my 80mm refractor.
I was pleasantly surprised and it hummed and whistled its way all night long on a 12v battery with +ve pin connections. Tracking was very good. Had no problems focussing at high magnification as I was gently using a 10:1 focusser to good effect. Good old WO machining makes life great. If you have too big a momentum of arm at the mount it makes it more difficult to focus but a short scope, absolutely no problem.
I had said earlier that you can't use it in a straight Alt/Az form. I was wrong. The way you do it is to slightly loosen the mount bolt for az and adjust the Alt tension with the large knob on the side. Very easy to use in that configuration. Just swing it around to where you want to view then tighten the knobs for tracking.
I must say that for the money, I'm stoked that I have a very, very portable Alt/Az goto mount for my widefield refractor that will work on batteries (8xAA) or mains or 12v battery. The tripod can breakdown even further for easy transport. So next time I go to my brothers farm and its dark skies thanks to this mount that I can easily take in hand luggage with my scope. If I want to seriously upgrade the database it then I just purchase another handset for ~$100 but I don't think I will. Just keep it simple. If you add objects to the handset ie comets asteroids or user objects, then they are retained in memory when the handset is switched off as is the time and location, so you dont have to re-enter it all again.
I'll answer a few questions from another post, see below:-
Hi, I co-authored the long review. Here are a few questions:
1. If you give a telescope a gentle tap once it has been installed, does it move in Azimuth. Ours had extremely noticable movement even if you just looked at the mount. Ours also had some play in the Alt axis, though not as severe. Also, our definitions of "high power" may differ. I was referring to 150x and above.
Answer:- If a rapped the scope there was no movement in the axis of Alt or Az ie it came back to where it was pointed. When focussing I used the 10:1 reducer on my WO Megrez and this made focussing at 100-150x easier. It wobbled because this has a long movement arm but did not shift position and if done gently was easy to get sharp focus. If I was using the 90mm Mak then easy focus without tremours annoyingly apparent.
2. Did you get the AC adapter in the package?
Answer:-No was shipped without it as this would have been for 110volts and not 240 here in Aussie. I used 8AA batteries (fresh) and noticed no dimming of hanset and it ran on a partially charged 12v battery all night with NO problems.
3. Let us know about nighttime goto? Ours is very inaccurate.
Answer:- Gotos were in a 20mm eyepiece 90-95% time. But I paid carefull attention to south orientation as well as vertcal scope placement on startup.
4. Did you hear odd chirping noises at lower speeds? I assume it's the result of motor speed controls. It seems to come from both axes.
Answer:- Yes but they remind me of the cicadas here in Australia. Low noise but there.
5. Did yours actually ship from China? Did you order through iOptron.com? Ours shipped from right here in California, though it's clearly Chinese built and the company is headquarted in Massachusetts.
Answer:- Ordered direct from China and shipped from there. Money cleared to their bank Friday afternoon and the mount and tripod arrived in Australia, Brisbane 3:00pm Monday afternoon. Had an excellent english speaking/writing contact in China that answered all my questions.