Not an owner but I did see the 102 AZ on the floor at my local astro shop.
The build quality looked very nice for the price. As others have said, I would add a nice diagonal right off the bat. Other than that, don’t add anything until you spend some time with the scope and figure out what you want/need. You’ll save money by not jumping ahead on accessories.
I have the faster Celestron 102mm F5 refractor that I have been enjoying for 16 years and the 102 AZ should deliver even better image quality.
I also have the 102mm F9.8 Celestron refractor OTA, which uses the same lens as the Omni XLT. The longer XLT will be slightly better on the moon and planets but will have a narrower field of view and of course will be longer.
If portability and deep sky objects are high on your list then the 102 AZ would be a strong consideration.
If you can deal with the larger and slightly more complicated setup of the 102 F9.8 and the moon and planets are more of a priority then the longer XLT would be a strong consideration.
Note that both scopes will do deep sky and the moon and planets, just one scope “slightly” better than the other.
If I were making the choice, I would pick the 102 AZ. Its portability and ease of use make it attractive. The 4” lens will be really wonderful for deep sky viewing and will do fine for the moon and planets and be more conducive to travel and daytime viewing. If later you become a lunar /planetary enthusiast, you can get something even better than the longer Omni XLT version. The money you save on the AZ you can put toward eyepieces, etc.
You won’t go wrong with any of these 4” Omni refractors. I usually recommend a 4” refractor over a 4.5” to 6” Newtonian/Dobsonian.
Bob
Edited by bobhen, 20 December 2019 - 07:47 AM.