A decent second hand scope with a mount would be best dobs can be unwieldly unfortunately and some cheap and nasty refractors are no better.
She may have to stretch the budget a little more if she wants some satisfaction, it doesnt have to be new just decent.
My better half's father bought himself a Celestron Inspire 80AZ. I've looked through it, and found it quite reasonable. Having said that, I haven't looked through many refractors, so I am not sure how useful my opion is.
He was able to get half price, on sale, at Australian Geographic.
Binocentral currently sell it at $369 (plus shipping?). The eyepieces with it were not much, as seems to be common.
I suggest having a look at some of the reviews and consider it.
Saw one of these the other day and it looks like a nice solid entry level kids scope that can be used on land or in sky. If she catches the bug, the next one will be much more expensive
Second for binos. A good pair of binos like Nikon 10x50 or 16x50 Action Extreme would cost around $300 and they are much more versatile than 80mm refractor. Yes, magnification is less, but it's a very good start for exploring the night sky. Much easier to work with. And probably a good book about night sky and using binos - about $30 - $40.
The big plus of binos - they are compact and can be used for land. Take them when camping. A bit difficult with refractors.
Don't discount a 3 - 5" table top dob.. that would be in price range I think...
Easy to live with, easy to setup but, will obviously need some sort of table...
I can't speak with first hand experience on TT dobs specifically but, my little Vixen 5" Newt is an absolute killer & you only have to look in my signature to see what I'm comparing it to...
well thank you all, some good suggestions here, I did also think a good pair of Bino;s would be best for starting out, but i will have to do some sweet talking.
I gifted an Orion 80mm short tube to my sister earlier this year albeit on a pretty cheap & crappy mount but, it still works okay...
I managed to cobble together a decent collection of reasonable EP's from both my own collection & the generosity of some dear people on here...
Anyways... apart from the obvious CA issues, if it has to be a refractor & the budget is fixed, the little 80mm short tubes are pretty damn good... Another scope I didn't mind using myself despite the CA issues that come with all basic refractors.
I can assure you, I wouldn't have sent it to my sister if it were junk as she would just be totally frustrated with it.. (she's in her 60s) & it wouldn't get used.
Could be another option in the price range for OTA with a semi decent mount maybe... not necessarily the one it comes advertised with though if you buy it new in a package deal...
The best scope for anyone to have is one you will accually use regularly and you will also enjoy the views from it, an 8 inch dobsonian is a good choice or perhaps a 127mm or larger goto mak or sct, but this could break the budget of $300 by a considerable amount.
If the scope must be of refracter design and a budget of around $300, if you could stretch to $350, These zoom Binoculars may give better views than a cheap 60mm to 80mm refracter with several eyepieces, being of zoom design and 80mm objective for each eye several magnifications will be available it should give great views of nebula, star clusters, planets and the moon and even if she decides to get a larger scope in the future the 80mm zoom binoculars will still be of great use.
The binoculars can be made more stable for viewing elevated objects or higher zoom magnification by being mounted on a tripod (homemade or modified), or by being rested on the side of a large stepladder, or just lay back on the ground on a comfortable bean bag.
I am now tempted to buy these for myself......!
SAXON SCOUTER 25-125X80 ZOOM BINOCULARS at $349.00
Wow Wayne they certainly would be the way to go I reckon, but I am not forking out the dollars, she is stuck on a Refractor and I am pushing the budget to $400 which will get a Saxon 909 AZ3, from Bintel, so what are your ideas about that scope
Yes Leon, the Saxon 909 AZ3 seems to be the type of scope she is after, the AZ mount will be an easy quick setup for her, i am not sure of the quality of the eyepieces that come with it i have never used them, but many years ago when i received my first telescope it was a 90mm refractor the eyepieces were very low quality plastic lenses but as soon as i replaced them with good quality eyepieces the telescope really came alive with great views.