[mic_m (Michael)]

Originally Posted by JethroB76

The Orion intelliscopes have always been a massive rip off in Oz; buy yourself a GSO dob and put an Argo Navis on it and be happy and in front $-wise

I totally agree with the rip off comment about Orion dobs is Australia; hence the reason for beginning this thread.

My only issue with the GSO made dobs is the amount of modifications that are needed to get them up to where they should be directly form the manufacturer; otherwise they are a fantastic scope and I would already have one. I particularly like the two speed focuser on the GSO, from the samples I have had access to at my club it is very nice indeed and after using it I would be reluctant to get a scope without one now. But when I consider the frustration that some have reported in trying to fix their NEW scope and the opportunity cost of ones time that this often represents the GSO dob is just not an option. If the SW (which appears to need less mods) had something better than the parallel poles between the UTA and LTA I would consider getting one of those. However, given most other dobs now have a two speed focuser and a fan the SW lags behind in its features even though it sells for a higher price, which is a further deterent in getting one of these.