First I would say don't *not* buy this because of bad reviews about the tripod. It's actually pretty impressive that you get a tripod and it extends in my opinion as best possible and as stable as possible for the cost. I had little problems with it (other than learning to not trip over it in the dark, my fault). As a starter telescope for say a 9-10 year old or for me who daunted by the array of possibilities (and the huge array of costs) it's perfect. Perfect to learn on without worry. Easy setup and takedown, very portable (purposefully, it comes with a backpack). Extremely lightweight. First night I was seeing Jupiter's moons. I had to prove it to myself, I couldn't believe those were moons, but yes, they were. Quite easily spotted 4 of them. Saw distinct craters on our moon in a crescent state even without the moon filter. The finder scope is useless, it's too close to the main tube, even my daughter can't get her head close enough to it without bumping the tube. The magnification isn't all that amazing and the Barlow lens "tube" thing can't be used with the right angle viewing adapter which makes it a bit hard to get the full Monty on the scope. I was hoping for a bit more magnification, but haven't really tried it in a truly dark setting yet. Can see red distinctly in stars like Betelgeuce. The five star rating is deserved just on price alone though. Note, I don't know that they make this one any more, but there are similar ones so you can't go wrong. Also this telescope is great for terrestrial viewing, I was spotting the hole on the green behind our house hundreds of yards away. A lot harder on things that move of course! Keep looking up!