What makes Celestron better than Meade? - Page 2

Outbackmanyep · #21 20-09-2010, 08:23 PM

In my opinion YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Pay peanuts and you get monkeys.
I think if you buy a telescope thats made in the country of origin then you're onto a good start. Ie: Vixen from Japan, Celestron U.S.A. or Meade U.S.A.

Mind you my dob is a chinese GSO and performs extremely well for my pursuits.

From my experience with Tasco riflescopes the ones made in Japan last longer and perform better than Tasco Taiwan, Tasco China, Tasco Hungary, Tasco Czechoslovakia

Hypnotist (Bartholomew) · #22 21-09-2010, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marki

They are not better than each other, both have good and bad points. Meade tend to over engineer their tubes which is why they are much heavier. I have read reports bagging both celestron and meade for different reasons and it really is a pointless pursuit. As for aftersales service whenever I have had a fault with my meade scopes Bintel have always responded immeadiately to my queries and I have had no problem getting things fixed. All three of the meade scopes I own (etx 125pe, Lx200R and series 5000 ED 80 apo) have excellent optics and I have no concerns at all. It may seem that celstron scopes are more popular but if you look at the sales figures you will find meade out sold celestron by about 10:1 in the last ten years. Both manufacturers make average scopes for a reasonable price, neither are in the big league as they both built to a budget.

Mark

Mark,
You've got to admit that Celestron has a better quality control than Meade. In addition to that the Celestron CGE Pro 1400 EdgeHD isn't just average but way better than average 14" scopes!

Bart

PeterM · #23 21-09-2010, 08:31 AM

Bart, interesting threads you have started recently about Celestron HD edge. Sorry if I am off the mark but reading more like some promo ad to me.
PeterM.

Kal (Andrew) · #24 21-09-2010, 10:23 AM

Celestron is only better than Meade because you want to believe that.

I've owned both (currently own product from both companies). I'd rate them as pretty much the same, and agree with that you get what you pay for.

Jen · #25 21-09-2010, 10:31 AM

Well i would have either they are both much better than my scope

BlackWidow (Mardy) · #26 21-09-2010, 11:25 AM

Well still sticking to my guns... I agree you get what you pay for, unless its stolen or a gift

.. However we all expect the item will work, and competition forces manufactures to compete on equal ground for the better share of the market.. It's fair to assume when it comes to Meade and Celestron this situation is fierce, and like products are pretty much the same. I think they both make great products and no matter what you have, you have got some good gear. In fact better than most pro's had only a few birthdays back. We live in a great time!

But once they have got your money the measure is at what level that your purchse was appreciated. Having had problems with products from both Celestron and Meade the proof for me was simple.. Celestron has a distributor here in Australia. They have many parts and can repair onsite. However Meade does not. Parts are hard to get and need to be shipped from the USA. Been waiting 7 months for a part for my hand controller (still waiting). Meade use dealers to give us the support and some are next to useless (not all). The dealer here in my state know less than I do and i'm new to the game. He is a Camera Dealer and that's what I think he's best at, but Meade are happy with him. You are not even able to get past the dealers with Meade and contact them as they have NO E-Mail contact, co's talking with your Customers is just to hard and Expensive. Total loss of of contact with the most important part of your business and market research tool.

I don't get newsletters or product updates from Meade, but I do from Celestron. It seems one company values their customer base better than another, and that alone leads me to a no 1 rating for Celestron.

Just remember I own mainly Meade products, but would think twice about it if I was to spend my money today. I don't want to be waiting months to get my scope up and running. I have been waiting 5 months for my 1220 Field De-Rotator to be replaced under warranty back from Meade, and they still don't have any stock to replace it.. Sigh!

Best Price?
Best Features? (Hmmm sometimes)
Best overall value for my money? (Wins Every Time)

We Meade to see better customer support here in Australia!

You have made me vent again

Mardy

TrevorW · #27 21-09-2010, 11:38 AM

Bit of a mute point considering both are probably now made in China

In early 2003 Celestron's rival, Meade Instruments, attempted a takeover but a bankruptcy court allowed the sale of the company back to its original owners. The company had been U.S. owned until April 2005 when it was acquired by SW Technology Corporation, a Delaware company and affiliate of Synta Technology Corporation in China. Synta is a leading manufacturer of astronomy equipment and related components.

Meade at one stage nearly went bankrupt as well, and was quoted as having parts made in Japan, Taiwan, Mexico etc no longer in the US

marki · #28 21-09-2010, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypnotist

Mark,
You've got to admit that Celestron has a better quality control than Meade. In addition to that the Celestron CGE Pro 1400 EdgeHD isn't just average but way better than average 14" scopes!

Bart

No not really, I have owned both brands and their quality control is neither here nor there. The edge scopes are just a SCT with a field flattener thats all, nothing special. The meade ACF just uses a hyperbolic secondary to do the same thing. You have obviously had a bad experience with meade products (abait very cheap ones) and thus have a wheel barrow to push. From your other posts on the 14" edge I am guessing you really want one so get it already. When you get the chance put it up against a RCOS,Tak or AP scope so you are better able to judge the difference between average and top shelf scopes, there is a reason why they are far more expensive. Fact is meade and celestron produce a budget scope that is usually good value for the price. The rest of it is just marketing hype dream't up by the spin doctors in either company. Celestron do not have the worlds best optical systems but then neither does meade.

Mark

asimov (John) · #29 21-09-2010, 05:26 PM

Here's a classic example of 'QC'....It ain't funny for the owner but I'm sure he saw the funny side

http://tinyurl.com/2acn2gt

Octane (Humayun) · #30 21-09-2010, 06:07 PM

Trevor, "moot" point, not "mute"! ; )

H

multiweb (Marc) · #31 21-09-2010, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane

Trevor, "moot" point, not "mute"! ; )

H

As in 'shoot up?' Dislexic are teople poo...

marki · #32 21-09-2010, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackWidow

Celestron has a distributor here in Australia. They have many parts and can repair onsite. However Meade does not. Parts are hard to get and need to be shipped from the USA. Been waiting 7 months for a part for my hand controller (still waiting). Meade use dealers to give us the support and some are next to useless (not all). The dealer here in my state know less than I do and i'm new to the game.

We Meade to see better customer support here in Australia!

You have made me vent again

Mardy

Mardy have you tried Bintel???

Mark

TrevorW · #33 21-09-2010, 08:50 PM

In part H, mute because I didn't want to hear or talk about this Meade V Celestron rubbish

IMHO they are, have, and always will be overpriced for what you get

Max Vondel (Peter) · #34 21-09-2010, 10:48 PM

not much of a comparison Bart
your crapy 70mm vs 350mm...!!!!!!
I'm sure the celestron 70mm are just as poor.
You get what you pay for.
Get a Takahashi instead!

Hypnotist (Bartholomew) · #35 22-09-2010, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterM

Bart, interesting threads you have started recently about Celestron HD edge. Sorry if I am off the mark but reading more like some promo ad to me.
PeterM.

Not at all Peter, I just want to know as much about my new Cge EdgeHD before I get it, so I'm prepared. It really is my first "real" scope.

Bart

Hypnotist (Bartholomew) · #36 22-09-2010, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marki

No not really, I have owned both brands and their quality control is neither here nor there. The edge scopes are just a SCT with a field flattener thats all, nothing special. The meade ACF just uses a hyperbolic secondary to do the same thing. You have obviously had a bad experience with meade products (abait very cheap ones) and thus have a wheel barrow to push. From your other posts on the 14" edge I am guessing you really want one so get it already. When you get the chance put it up against a RCOS,Tak or AP scope so you are better able to judge the difference between average and top shelf scopes, there is a reason why they are far more expensive. Fact is meade and celestron produce a budget scope that is usually good value for the price. The rest of it is just marketing hype dream't up by the spin doctors in either company. Celestron do not have the worlds best optical systems but then neither does meade.

Mark

Hi Mark,
I get your point, however please tell me why a Celestron Cge 1400 HD is 10,000 bucks and a Meade 14" LX200ACF is only $7,000? I think it's either (probably) the quality of the OTA or the missing German equatorial mount . (Check out this article I posted earlier and tell me what you think of it: http://www.universetoday.com/34925/a...estron-edgehd/)

All the best

Bart

Merlin66 (Ken) · #37 22-09-2010, 05:43 AM

Are you buying the OTA or the mounting?
I honestly don't think there is much to choose between the OTA's.
remember the HD and the new Meade both have problems with the existing reducers... other than Optec no one seems to have come up with a reducer for the new optical systems....

Octane (Humayun) · #38 22-09-2010, 09:00 AM

Easy.

The Meade ACF's have been around for a few years, hence, not fetching the PREMIUM you're paying for a NEWER telescope. The Edge HD's were only released in the last year or so.

Give it two years, and, the same thing will happen to the Edge HD series of scopes -- they'll fall in price.

H

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypnotist

I get your point, however please tell me why a Celestron Cge 1400 HD is 10,000 bucks and a Meade 14" LX200ACF is only $7,000?

BlackWidow (Mardy) · #39 22-09-2010, 09:35 AM

Thanks Mark for your advice about Bintel. I will give them a try in the future. I have at last been able to get onto a contact in the USA from Meade. He is the Service Manager and has agreed to assist me with my problems. I have been able to send my item directly to Meade for replacement. So now I am just waiting in the hope all will go well. As a business owner myself I value my customers. Backup service to me is always the best measure of a product I purchase. Somtimes I get it wrong as I may have this time. To fight over slight differences in image vision thats so close is not the main issue for me. In most cases the difference is only 1 - 2 Glasses of scotch. That seems to effect my vison alot more..

Cheers
Mardy

sejanus (Gavin) · #40 22-09-2010, 09:40 AM

Hypnotist, whats with the flood of cge14 threads all over the place?

You say it is your first real scope and have mentioned you want portability which is not what a 14" will give.

I'd take a punt and say you've never seen or used a cge14 or probably any 14" sct - really I think you are going to a world of hurt buying a 14" sct as a first real scope.