Telescope Reviews: How do you choice a vendor?

It pays to shop around. For small items like eyepieces, particularly premium ones, the odds of there being a problem are slim. For such items I buy purely based on total cost (product + tax + shipping) and availability (in-stock vs. on order).

For larger items like scopes, I think you need to be more compromising on price. I buy lots of stuff from OPT, but the last 4 "fragile" items I purchased from them (including two H-Alpha solar scopes, an H-Alpha filter set and a Mewlon 210, all arrived completely out-of-whack. I used (and paid for) second day air as recommended, and still the items were FUBAR on arrival. It is either brutality on the transport from the maker to OPT, or the UPS/FedEx folks in San Diego are absolute neanderthals, but I will not buy anything large and fragile (like an OTA) from OPT ever again (unless I drove down and tested it, then drove it home). They do have a great return policy, but because I had to return the H-Alpha items second day air on my nickel, it was pretty costly.

I ordered a CGE mount from OPT and it came in perfect condition, but the extra counterweight that I added to the order arrived with a shattered thumbscrew. I am pretty sure that the local area carriers down that way are careless.

I've done lots of business with Astronomics over the years as well, and never had any issues with shipping damage on anything. As an added bonus, I pay no sales tax when ordering from them. The only "neg" I have about Astronomics is that often items I want are not on stock and sometimes the items show as not being in stock, but really are. I've learned to call or e-mail and ask whether something listed as out of stock is really out of stock, and one time in three find that the website isn't up to date on stock status.

I used to like Anacortes, but something has changed recently and the website is a disaster. You used to be able to determine stock status, and easily locate items by category and type. Since the re-vamp, it's hard to find anything and when you find it, you have no indication as to whether it's in stock or not. Until they get their act together and make the new site as well-organized as the old, I'll pass on them unless it's something I know (because of an Astromart ad) they have in stock.

Amazon.com is the tool I use when shopping based on price. It allows me to quickly check the price and availability of the myriad camera and electronics houses that sell astronomy optics without having to visit each site and search for that data.

Regards,

Jim

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"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

- Sir Issac Newton