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I own a meade at the moment and I have had my share of problems with it for the three (4? who's counting) years of ownership, but it's the only scope I have and I love it to bits (as it falls to bits :p).
I sympathise with KG8's gripe regarding quality and workmanship in meade - one of the screws that holds the plate in place on the mount head has recently broken off. It became stuck after an extremely cold night of observing, the mount head must have slightly contracted, making the screw impossible to unscrew. Also, when I first got the scope, and did some fine adjustments to the underside of the dovetail(? I can't remember what it's called anymore) plate (what meade calls the axis alignment procedure), all the washers that held the adjustment screws in place broke and fell to pieces. My meade barlow has also recently had it's screw broken off as well (the important part that holds the eyepiece in place!).
That being said, I am happy with the optics of the scope, even if the parts that hold it together aren't particularly great. However, I have had many, many nights of wonderful observing time with this fine telescope. I don't want any prospective meade buyers to be put off by our gripes because I'm sure, as Tony said, every manufacturer has their good crop and bad crop. I don't think we should make sweeping generalisations though about one particular brand. I haven't had experience with all of meade's product range so I can't say that all their stuff is crap, and even with my not so great experiences, I won't say that all their gear is total crap.
Cheers,
Silvie
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