OK this one is a little bit of fun but with some scientific edge to it. Obviously some manufacturers advertise more heavily than others. Which ones have the most impact on you, personally!
For me it was Meade, but my first SCT was a celestron.
I guess for influence (poll question) I'd have to go with Meade too, because for a while they (with the help of several Melbourne dealers that shall remain nameless) almost had me convinced that I will never be able to afford a half decent scope. But for favourite (thread title question) I'd have to go with GS for producing a real volkskop in the 8" Dob.
Well, for me it was Tasco. At the time, they were the ones that pointed towards the beginners type t'scope. My little 114 was good enough to let me see comet 'Shoemaker-Levy 9' strike Jupiter with such dramatic results. Just wish that I'd had my Meade 10" DOB back then. They'd be 2nd, with Celestron 3rd. L.
I went for Meade in the Advert stakes, as they had a good level of info on their scopes for our club purchace of our LX-90.
But that does not make them my Fav. manufacturer.
That would have to be GS.
I guess after extensive research on what the best optics for my budget might be when I was building the newt, I ended up with Parks optics because their claim to be amongst the best in the world for optics. That & user reviews swayed me.
When i first started buying/reading astro mags the Parks adverts stuck out for me , not only for the scopes but errr the ladies modelling.....also Televue > huge eyepieces and desirable refractors {always wanted a pronto}
For me, Meade's advertising is the most influential and always sparked my imagination - it's those glossy, glossy, super-colourful pictures of nebulae and galaxies they have in the background of those super-gizzed up scopes that make me pay attention. That and their techno-babble specifications always gets me wishing that I had whatever scope they were advertising. In the end, I get over the delusion and I am glad that I even have one scope.
In terms of favourite manufacturer, I've only really dealt with meade products so I don't really have a favourite. If it was up to what manufacturer I'd like to buy equipment from, then it would have to be Takahashi, followed by Vixen.
Its always been Celestron for me right from the start (my first scope was a lowly Celestron Cometron). But I will have to admit that Meade was one of the major influences as well back in the 80's. The other two are Edmund Scientific and Orion (I used to drool over piccy's of the Astroscan when I was a kid).
It would have been Synta as that was where I was heading until I found this forum. It would have been a 6" Newt on about an EQ4. I'll tick the IIS box.
I bought a Tal 200k,no amount of advertising can disguise a lack of performance for the dollar (buck).
You always get what you pay for (hopefully).
It does not really matter what you decide on,as long as the telescope does what you bought it for.
Here is a pic taken with the TAL200k (very early days).
Negative influence counts too, doesn't it? 
L.
RCOS 20"
