Customer Reviews

Meade 20125M DS-2114ATS-LNT 114MM 4.5 Inch Goto Computerized Autostar Altazimuth Reflector Telescope

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I have owned telescopes for more than 10 years. Most of them have been of the SCT style and my current is a Meade 10" LX90 LNT. I have sampled dobs and refractors as well, but this is my first reflector. In the process of owning and using scopes I am quite familiar with Meade products and quality as well.

Without wasting time, let me get straight to the point(s).

My first order had a factory broken, but shipped anyway, drive base. Thanks to Amazon I returned it for free. I purchased a second unit and the OTA was dented. It has been returned, again for free thanks to Amazon, and I am awaiting a third one. (glutton for punishment...not really, just a great price for a good scope)

And, let me tell you about Meade. They suck! When I called about the dented OTA, I had to spend 15 minutes telling the foreign speaking rep what was wrong and repeat my address 7 times to get the registration correct...then he told me I had to pay to send the 1 day old OTA to Meade as well as take all of the parts off of it and reassemble them onto the new one. Well I told him that I would get Amazon to take care of it or I would just buy a Celestron. And for the record, the Celestron 114GT might be slightly better built and packaged (my friend bought that model and it is nice)...but you lose the LNT feature.

So, why the problems? Meade (and most of the others) put a lot, and I mean a lot, of plastic parts into these to make them relatively inexpensive. Meade also puts little to know packing in the box and therefore things can get dented or bent.

But, on the plus side: the scope optics are crisp right out of the box, the 494 go-to control is very nice and simple for a beginner. And, the LNT is wonderful for anybody...you will read that a lot of experienced users think it is a waste. But what the LNT excels at is setting the correct time (with ATUM attached), finding level and north...this is great because learning to set the tripod AND the scope to perfect level and north can be time consuming when using a portable scope at different locations even around your own yard.

Bear in mind that you get what you pay for, and NEVER pay regular price for this type of device...get a good price and you get a good deal, even with some of the cheapness...but also make sure you deal with a company like Amazon.