Customer Reviews

Meade mySKY Personal Guide for Sky Exploration

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Received mine last week, didn't work at all. Appeared to power up and get a GPS fix but couldn't identify any object. Upgraded the program using the included disk but no change in behavior. Liked the way idea of this device as opposed to the SkyScout but sent it back this morning and decided to stay with the SkyScout. I was going to give the SkyScout to my son if the Meade device worked because I generally prefer Meade equipment but decided to just return this one and wait to see if the reported problems I see on other sites are corrected down the road.

Mine was bad out of the box too. Has been back to Meade for OVER a month now and every time I call Meade they say "We'll get that shipped out to you tomorrow". I had problems with my Celestron SkyScout when I first got it but Celestron got it back to me in about a week and it's been GREAT since then. Save your money and buy a SkyScout from Celestron and avoid Meade. I know I will from now on and I own several of thier scopes.

UPDATE:

After three days of use my mySky is now dead. It just died. Won't work at all. Meade is going to have me mail it back, wait a few weeks and then have a $400 refurb and less than a year of warranty.

If I could change my rating for the mySky, I'd now give it no stars.

Very lame.



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Functionally perfect. And what an incredible functionality! Being able to point and shoot at celestial objects is even cooler than it sounds.

A little cheesy to look at though and the rubberized plastic construction has too much of a "cheap" feel for a $400 toy. Plus, the audio, video and overall production values of the multimedia leave much to be desired, although the content itself is great.

One last criticism - the software is on a standard, removable SD card, and yet you need to use Meade's proprietary, Windoze-only software to update it. Who's the genius behind that?

My verdict: if you have the cash and the desire and can overlook some minor aesthetic shortcomings, this thing is the stuff. Although, sadly, Mac-owners need not apply.

Received the unit for my birthday. Very excited at first. Went through a tedious setup process. Realized that the unit was built very poorly with switches that don't seem to be quite right, either recessed too deeply into the device or not as responsive as they should be. Never could get a GPS lock after several attempts. Put in date/time/location manually. mySky was way off on identifying objects. Attempted to update the included SD card per the manual but the "Programming failed." From that point forward, the unit never functioned again. I am returning it for a refund.

As a budding backyard astronomer, I was hoping for an aid to my exploration. I bought this pretty much on release and now, about a year later and after getting the latest software shipped to me by Meade, I have decided to call this a total loss. Out of the box, it had an "identify" function that was supposed to allow me to point to a celestial object and the mySKY would identify it. I never got that far as the mySKY could not ever get calibrated (i.e. GPS fix). I thought it was me and so I would pull it out of the box every few months but I could never get it to work. I finally called tech support and after having to pay for the latest software which was on backorder for a month, I received the "definitive" software edition. Now, you have to pick the nearest city (i.e. you can't define your own location) and then allow the sensors "adjust." I don't know if this means it is attempting to get a GPS fix but it does do this rather quickly. This got me excited and I hoped that it would finally work as advertised. I shouldn't have been surprised that the excitement quickly went away when the identify function was no longer in the software. You can pick a star or constellation from a whole slew of them (it lists items not even visible in your location at the current time) and it will try to direct you to it but trying to get the lights and your vision aligned is a miserable experience. That Meade still lists this thing at $399 is shameful. In my opinion, it should be a $25-50 toy sold in the toy department of your local superstore. I'll be buying a Celestron SkyScout which is what I should have bought in the first place. I've never written an Amazon review before but felt obligated to warn nice people from buying this worthless product.

I bought mine to run my ETX90 EC and to help the kids learn the sky. I knew it had problems, but I figured if it didn't work I could return it right away for another. My first unit worked extremely well from November 2007 to March 2008. The tracking was perfect, all the buttons worked as well as all the features. It also performed as advertised with the classic original ETX. I was impressed.

Then, during a Messier Marathon in 2008, the power button broke off inside! I could hear it rattling around, and my frustration was at a high point because I was looking for M30, the last object for the challenge! I had gone past the merchant's return window, so I sent it into Meade for warranty service on my dime. Another was sent quickly (about two weeks), but it would not get a GPS fix and would lock up with every attempt at use. Another was sent quickly in exchange, and it blew through the GPS fix, but had a 30 degree pointing error!!! It also misidentified constellations when I fudged the time settings to account for the pointing error!! That unit was sent back for exchange, and SIX WEEKS later I am still without a functioning unit. And forget about Meade sending a note explaining what they are doing to fix the situation.

As far as I'm concerned, Meade has stolen my $430.95 and will never get my business again after ten years of my using several Meade products. My credit card cannot recover my money, and my next letter to Meade will be to ask them for my money back directly. Seriously, there should be a class action lawsuit against this company and this product.

Too bad there isn't a Zero Stars rating.

Has never acquired a gps fix. Cant identify or locate the moon. Batteries go dead overnight with unit off. Meade customer service is not helpful.

I received a defective item from Amazon - have requested refund - lets see how it goes

I recently bought MySky and I like it a lot. Yes, the quality of construction may be better and yes, the software seems to have some glitches, specially just out of the box. The screen could also be higher resolution, sort of like the iPod screen. But this is a very sophisticated product. Wait till you hold one in your hand: it almost comes out of science fiction. I agree that Celestron's Sky Scout is built better ( I had one for over a year and I just sold it after using only few times ), but MySky is a superior product and much more ergonomically designed. For me it has a big advantage: it can be used without reading glasses. The Scout display is very faint and on the side of the unit, while MySky has a display right in front of you that can be very bright or very dim, your choice. Other really nice feature of MySky: once it gets the GPS fix, the next time you turn it on at the same location it keeps it in memory, and updates the date, so you do not have to wait for a new fix. This feature is not present in Scout, which has to wait for a new fix each time. This allows you to actually have sky tours even inside your own home, and learn the sky and constellations even in bad weather, amazing......I was a bit nervous buying MySky because of all the negative reviews; I suggest to anybody who purchases MySky to update the software immediately via the web, even before using it the first time. Once you have the updated software/firmware, all should be OK. And look out for Amazon deals! I bought my MySky at Amazon for $299 new, including free ground shipping, which I think is an amazing price for this product.

Switches on my first Mysky failed on arrival, then unit failed. Meade replaced it promptly. I sold the replacement on Ebay, and a switch broke for the buyer within 2 weeks. Very poor quality Chinese construction; there is no way this could stand up to even light use in an observing field environment. I bought it originally to drive my Meade LXD75 telescope mount but decided there was no way it could last in this application. Too bad, because the concept is great.