Meade Instruments 1210-60-03 12-Inch LX200-ACF (f/10) Advanced Coma-Free Telescope

This is an excellent telescope. It was simple to assemble and I was using it the same day I received it. Packaging was excellent for sensitive optics. I have owned both Meade and Celstron telescopes in various sizes and this one out performs them all. I was hesitant due to the price tag but have no regrets with it now. I have used it several nights now and it has aligned perfectly every time. Alignment takes only about 5 minutes. The image resolution is outstanding! The only downside is the noisy motors. They are quite loud at slew rates faster than 1.5 degrees. While tracking though you can't even hear them. The scope has no problems piggybacking my Canon. The scope is quite heavy but a see this as a good thing. One night I was viewing I had a 15+mph wind, which would shake many scopes but the LX200 is like a rock. It is, however, still what I would call "portable." I would definately recommend this to any serious astronomer or astrophotographer.

Beware: Our $4000 investment in this product that was meant to further propel our 9 year old future astrophysicist's knowledge in space has instead been detrimental to his interest. I feel I've been very generous in giving Meade Instruments nearly a year to correct this issue before writing this negative review but in 11 months and 4 attempts, this company has failed to send us a working telescope. Our son is an avid space-lover. This kid knew everything about planets, galaxies, asteroids, you name it, by the age of 4. For his 9th birthday, we ordered the LX200 ACF along with multiple accessories. The order was placed in July 2020 and scheduled to deliver by his early August birthday. It delivered late and missed the birthday but our son is forgiving and was excited to have a second day of presents that would include his "Big Gift". When we received it and he excitedly watched us set it up, align it to true north, level it, and turn it on, but then it would attempt to align but would hit the mechanical stops and the motor would stall. I emailed customer service (because you can't get a person on the phone and the recording instructs you to email). I was given a paid shipping label and sent it back for repair. When we received it again, our son was so excited. He would finally be able to use the gift that was now super late but so anticipated. We went through all the steps again... only to have it stall and do the same thing. He tried hard to hide his disappointment. I contacted customer service again and sent them a video this time (also uploaded here on Amazon) showing exactly what the problem was. They said to send it back, although they did not provide a label this time and it cost us nearly $300 to return their faulty product. THREE MONTHS LATER, they finally sent it back to us in February 2021, only this time, it wouldn't even turn on. It was worse than before. When our son saw this (6 months after his birthday at this point - He'd waited 6 months for his big gift to be returned and it didn't work for the third time...) he said, "Forget it, it's not even worth it. I don't want it anymore." I contacted customer service again and explained that we did not pay $4000 for a telescope-shaped piece of furniture. They replied that the new ones were back ordered for months which didn't appear to be true because on that day, I looked online and Amazon had new ones for sale that said they would deliver in 3 days. I was assured by Sal at customer service that the return and repair of our telescope (for the 3rd time) would be a "high priority". That was March 2021 and it's now June 2021. My request for an update on the progress has been ignored. We haven't been able to use this telescope even once and next month will be a year since we ordered it. Isn't the warranty only good for a year? We paid for a brand-new working telescope. It shouldn't take 11+ months and 4+ attempts to send us a brand-new working telescope. If it's going to take a year to fix this one, then sell it later as a refurbished one and send us what we paid for! The worst part of all is my son's next birthday is coming up in early August and for the first time in his life, he told me to "please tell everyone that I want animal stuff this year, not space stuff." This is because to him, a space gift equals no gift at all when the biggest surprise of his life turned out to be a dud, not once, not twice, not three times, but here we are mid-attempt number four. He feels like the butt of a big joke a bunch of adults are playing on a 9 year old and I can only hope this disgrace of a company hasn't ruined my son's passion for good. I will never buy another Meade Instruments product and I don't recommend anyone else to either. I have never experienced or even heard of such horrible customer service with regard to any product in my entire life. I am disputing the charge with my bank and reporting this to the Better Business Bureau.

Arrived the long trip from New Jersey. I guess I should have bought it from Meade. You don't ship these types of instruments unless it's in a better cushioned container. My goodness, the manufacturer is just down the road in Costa Mesa, CA. I don't get it ... time will tell if something is loose .

This is my second Meade LX200 scope it is a massive upgrade from the 8 inch I had . Far too much to say about theis scope with out sounding like I'm salesman for them

Excellent product. Arrived in good condition, well collimated, and delivers excellent views and tracking. It is heavy at around 45 pounds.

Great deal, fantastic price excellent communication.

This is an excellent instrument for amateur astronomers. The price is not unreasonable for an instrument of this caliber. It includes: a very sturdy field tripod, GPS and Meade's AutoStarII, the optical tube assembly and fork mount, a finder scope and a 25mm plössl eye piece. The combined weight of the tripod/GPS/fork and optical tube assembly is about 125 lbs., so it can be moved by just one person, but it is heavy. Setup took less than a hour, and I was able to complete it by myself. Once powered on with either 8 C cell batteries or one of the optional power supplies, the telescope will go through the alignment process in just a few minutes. Because GPS is accurate within a certain measure of distance and you may need to rely on coordinates of the city closest to you, you will want to spend the time setting up and aligning the finderscope for any fine adjustments. Aligning the finderscope is really not a tough job, especially if you know what you are doing. The resolution through the finderscope is very nice as well. Navigating through the AutoStarII's menus will take some getting used to if you are not familiar with them, but overall it is pretty intuitive. The GOTO option is excellent, and the included database of objects is large enough to keep you viewing for decades. The tracking on the scope is very good, and with the hand controls on the AutoStarII hand unit, the overall control of this large aperture telescope really fits in your hand. The images seen through the scope are well defined and sharp, and because of the large aperture, they are nice and bright. Planetary viewing is good. At this time of year (June) I have been able to see Mars, including faint hints of contrast of the planet's surface. Saturn's Cassini division is easily seen with the included eyepiece. Although this telescope does a great job of planetary viewing, it is really intended for deep sky objects as it is a (f/10). The Messier objects stand out and are satisfyingly bright. I am looking forward to the Fall with much excitement, so I can point the scope at Andromeda. Because of the large aperture this telescope has the ability to to capture incredible images for astrophotography, but you will need to get a wedge, as it is not included. This telescope is not a toy, it is a scientific instrument, but you will feel like a kid when you get such a grand view of our local Universe!