Customer Reviews

Celestron NexStar 4 SE Telescope

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Found this easy to use. I chose this one to buy as my first telescope after reading several reviews concerning a few different telescopes and comparing prices vs features.

The NexStar 4 SE telescope set up rather quickly. Sky align worked well, though sometimes the scope seemed to become less accurate as the hours went buy, and I tried to re-align to different stars but eventually I encountered the same alignment results.

The motor does sometimes jump and looses track of objects. Approaching the objects from a certain side seemed to help, as mentioned in the instruction book.

I did have to buy the additional eyepiece/filter kit. Clarity was rather good up to 6mm eyepiece, though the 4mm was pretty blurred, even for moon views.

Although the AC adaptor is a necessity for continuous power, I found out I already had one that fit my telescope from a car seat back massage/heater cushion which also had a car cig adaptor (which I bought for $19.99).

The computer info included in the hand controller is great though some of the 40,000 objects might not be viewable. I had problems finding some nebula and galaxies, maybe that are too faint.

I have seen Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, great Moon views, a very blurred mars view (cannot see any features), and extremely blurred Uranus (basically just blue color blurred).

I would have given it a 5 out-of 5 had the motor tracking been smoother, alignment stayed accurate. Besides that it met my expectations.

This is a great telescope for many reasons. First, it is very easy to use. Most telescopes out there, even if they are computerized, are still difficult to align to the night sky before beginning use. The Nexstar 4SE with the sky align makes it fool proof because you only need to point it to 3 bright objects in the sky with no need to know what they are. One of the easiest ways to align it to the night sky is using a the Solar System Align. If you don't want to choose and point it at 3 bright objects, you can choose the moon. The moon is very easy to spot and easy to point the telescope. To me, this is the easiest alignment of all. After a few minutes setting them up, I found Jupiter easily after using the moon as the alignment object.
Secondly, for the price range, it is very well made and sturdy. Most of the components are metal which appears to make them rigid and durable. A rigid telescope makes them sturdy and shake free. It's 40,000 object database gives you enough things to look at for years and years.
The 4" optics on this is superb and the overall package is well worth the money. It is great for looking at planetary objects and deep sky.
Highly recommended.

I purchased the scope from a chain camera shop during a 50% off clearance sale. The scope appears to be well made. The tripod and mounting are solid.

The optics seem pretty good but it has been hard to get a sharp focus on Jupiter and Saturn. Moon viewing has been great. I bought the lens accessory kit as well but have been unable to get a sharp view on the planets.

I have not had much luck with the sky align. Half the time the align fails and when I do get a good alignment it has only been marginal at finding objects. I normally resort to a sky map for navigation. The spotter scope is great when properly aligned to the telescope and it is easy to align. The scope is much better than the Tasco toy scope I had when I was a teen, but I wish I could get a sharp focus on the planets.

The Nexstar 4 SE is a great buy at $499. This is a real telescope, not something bought at a discount store. The Goto tripod works well and is stable. The only thing missing is a low power eyepiece. A 40mm eyepiece would be nice. It comes with a 25mm. Add a 2X barlow or a few other eyepieces and you've got it made. It's small enough to leave set up. I won't call it a grab and go telescope, but it's close. For planetary, lunar, and solar(FOR SOLAR VIEWING YOU MUST BUY A SOLAR FILTER!!! DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT ONE!!! IT WILL BLIND YOU FOREVER!!!) this scope is great. For deep space you'll want something bigger. I'm not saying you can't see deep space objects, you can, but they won't look like pictures from the Hubble.

I'm not an astronomy major, neither an expert in optics. Got it for my 10-year old son. I suspected this might be a good product, but couldn't even imagine how great it is, considering all bells and whistles. Now both my son and my husband are hooked. So far their only complains were about weather and seasons. It's too cold outside when its dark in winter and it takes too long to wait for the night time in summer :)

Be very wary when purchasing this telescope. Although the optics on a Mak are excellent, the mount is terrible.
1. The dovetail mounting does not clamp securely.
2. The electronics are abysmally made, e.g. The wiring and circuit boards constantly short.
3. The Goto operation puts you a few degrees off of what you are searching for, I directly can see M31, but when it automatically slews to it, the image is nowhere near the fov.
4. The mount has been sent to Celestron for repairs, twice. Gone for three months, only to short out after one use when returned.
5. The electronics in the red dot finder failed after less than a year.
6. CAVEAT EMPTOR! When purchasing this telescope.

This is a very nice telescope. While it is only my second, I can tell that it is quality. Everything works well, though there are a few minor problems.

Alignment: Although it really seems like it wants to work, it hasn't for me yet. The interface and setup of alignment is pretty simple, but even when it says "Alignment Successful" and I select "Jupiter" it doesn't get close. But it might be my fault as I am not in a good area, with a lot of trees, so I just selected a couple of dim little stars close together, so maybe that's why. It's really a pain though because every time you turn the telescope on, you have to reset the time and date. Not a huge issue, but it isn't very convenient.

Focusing: Although it's possible to focus very clearly, it is difficult as there is no "Fine Adjustment." There is only a crude adjustment knob. You need a steady hand to get it perfect. It's probably not as bad as I'm making it sound, but okay.

Steadiness: Very good, no problem. You adjust the focus, 1...2....3.....4.....5 and its almost completely still. I'm not sure if that's good or okay as this is my second telescope.

As far as the overall software and handset, it is very straightforward and easy to use. Arrow buttons slew (move) telescope. #6 and 9 scroll through options up and down, and on the other numbers, there are more options like planets and such.
The telescope (despite being fairly powerful) only comes with one 25 eyepiece. You may be disappointed with your telescope if you do not purchase separate eyepieces. The Celestron eyepiece kit thing seems really good. Celestron Accessory Kit

UPDATE: I've had this telescope for quite a while now and I'm happy to say that I have managed to get it to align properly. The only alignment method that's worked great for me was the Solar System Align which allows you to choose any Solar System object (like the moon) and work off of that. It does work well and while what I slew to may not be perfectly centered in the eyepiece, it's still pretty close and you can adjust it with the remote control. Also I found the tracking to be very handy and accurate for at least an hour before the object drifts off. I highly recommend this as a telescope for a young astronomer or as a starter's telescope.

I bought this telescope for my 10-year old daughter for the following reasons:
-the built-in database allows us to quickly find objects in the sky. Beginners can't get past this step easily!
-reasonably priced and not too difficult to transport.
-allows some accessories to be added: lenses, camera.
-spend quality time together while learning about the sky and related physics/math. This was my long term plan.
-do some astrophotography.
-ability to see terestrial objects.
In practice it works well and you get a lot for your money, but you will want to buy additional eyepieces.
After some use you will find these unexpected limitations:
-Celestron may not ship certain items to your country. If you lack the imagination to circumvent that then you may be expected to pay a huge surcharge to obtain them locally.
-The gearbox teeth are too coarse for photography. You can see the tracking error when in synch mode (the object jumps in the objective).
-The hand control does not have a real-time clock. This makes setting up painful and I often experience alignment failure.
-Poor alignment when selecting an object. The telescope is a degree off. How is this possible?
-You need a much bigger aperture than 4-inches for astronomy. Save up and start with 8 - 10 inches.
-Battery power from on-board batteries is too low. Use with external power.
-Finder scope should automatically power off after a few minutes otherwise the kids will leave it switched on an the watch battery will die.
-The communication protocol to the device is rather poor. I suspect it was designed by a astronomer instead of an engineer.
-The telescope came with some fibre in the tube. Quality control not as good as I expected.
I am a beginner and still need to try the wedge and begin my walk in astronomy. The problem with astronomy is that the results are dependent on the sum of all the parts e.g. you won't get good photos with a cheap mount. Rather buy the items that will last a lifetime to start with and add to your collection as you can afford. I am looking at buying a 10-inch Meade instead now.

Overall, this is a great telescope for the price. I've been able to find things I wasn't able to find previously, like the Andromeda Galaxy, Hyades, Perseus Cluster etc.. The NexStar alignment procedures are a little tricky for newbies like me, I had to research other people's experiences with Celestron NexStar telescopes and be patient. It is very important to level the telescope properly, put in the correct latitude and time (Standard vs. Daylight savings). I would recommend using both internal batteries and some kind of external power source just in case. Once I was able to align the telescope, it worked as advertised, and aligned very accurately. I verified the alignment several times by going to known objects like the Moon or Jupiter or the Orion Nebula. Some photography is possible with this telescope, I'm still working on using the Wedge feature for greater tracking precision. Again, great telescope, sturdy tripod mount, and extensive deep sky object database, I'm happy so far.