Bought for my 14 year old astronomer, it gives him the ease of use needed with the expanded possibilities of additional optics choices.

Allow me to warn the prospective buyer beforehand that this telescope is not worth the $$--it is an old marketing scheme by low-end telescope manufacturers to sell a telescope based on its magnification. Any decent introductory book on astronomy will tell you that the most important trait of a telescope is to make images brighter, not larger. It is the size of the telescope's lens or mirror-its aperture-that is the important factor. Also, a telescope should not be used at magnifications above 50x per inch of aperture. For a 60mm telescope like this, which is 2.4", that translates to 120x. Any magnification above this will make the image dimmer and fuzzier and will not increase the resolution. There is a reason that the professional astronomical observatories use telescopes with apertures of 10 meters (about 300 inches!!)--bigger telescopes allow for higher magnifications and brighter images.

So here is my advice: look for an entry level telescope by Celestron, Meade, or Orion. These companies make excellent entry-level telescopes, and while they are more expensive than this scope, they will prove more fulfilling and less frustrating for the novice astronomer who wants to start exploring the night sky! Some great beginner telescopes are  Orion XT6 Classic Dobsonian Telescope & Beginner Barlow Kit  and  Orion Observer 60 Altaz Refractor . The latter is just slightly more expensive than this Tasco, but its tripod is sturdier and its eyepieces are higher quality--and it does not offer outrageous magnifications!!

I have been an amateur astronomer now for 13 years, and started off with one of these 402-power Tascos. So I am not just basing this review on hearsay, and want to save you the two years of frustration that I had to deal with before moving to a better instrument.

BUYER BEWARE! This product is so pathetic it should be against the law to sell it. Lucky me, I got it as an unexpected prize at a small local event so I paid nothing for it, but even so it's been terribly disappointing. This product is so lacking overall one cannot really evaluate its "quality", only its "lack of quality". Granted, it's a cheap scope for beginners, but even so it's just a waste of money. The "Novice" in the brand name does not refer to a "novice astronomer", only to a "novice buyer".

Whatever you do, please don't buy this for a child with an interest in astronomy, it'll have the opposite effect, possibly turning the budding astronomer off forever! The thing is plastic overall and very flimsy, but that's perhaps to be expected at this price range. It has no controls for azimuth or declination, which means that even if you manage to see something big and easy like the moon you'll be at pains to keep up with it, because trying to move this scope to follow anything is an erratic operation at best. But worst of all is the appalling lack of quality of the optics, which are no good even for daylight observation of distant objects. In fact, the copy I have has air bubbles and bugs (yes, insects!) frozen into the cheap "optical plastic" of every one of the three eye-pieces (if you have a sense of humor this may actually be the most interesting feature of this product! To think that these bugs came here all the way from China...).

Perhaps using the least poweful eyepiece you'll manage to see a fuzzy image, although adding the diagonal to see daylight objects "right side up" will again render it useless. Forget about the other two "more powerful" eyepieces. If you really can't afford to get something better for your child or for a beginner astronomer of any age, they will be much better served with a good book on naked eye astronomy, perhaps paired with a low range but decent pair of binoculars, a combination that will provide much more fun, as the child will be able to lay back on the grass somewhere and see tons of stars that can be identified using a star chart in a good astronomy book or magazine (which is the best way to get started in astronomy anyways, plus it will save you all the pain and frustration of trying to accomplish anything with this "instrument").

I had thought of putting this thing for sale on line, but I would feel so guilty taking money from anyone for this piece of garbage I guess I'll just have to keep it in its box somewhere until I decide to throw it out or use it as cheap "decor". Forgive me if I sound nasty, I have no vested interest on this, but this product deserves some serious trashing. If you do buy it, don't say I (and a couple of other well-meaning fellows here) didn't try to warn you. Caveat emptor!

This thing is awful. I thought it was me, until I read these reviews. I didn't buy it from Amazon. It doesn't work at all. They should not be allowed to sell this garbage. I cant even sell it, I'd feel terrible, passing this garbage off to someone else. Spend a little more and get a better one, which is what I now have to do.

I thought I was missing a piece, but this "teliscope" is just that bad. The garbage is useless, baby is a tool to send off home Invaders but even then that would only work if they had it allergy to cheap plastic.

Hi,
I've been an amateur astronomer for over 30 years. Do not waste a dime on this scope. It is USELESS and will end up in a closet collecting dust.

Hope I've save you money and time.

Not great, really sensitive to the slightest touch, i'd suggest getting a cmos camera for it or if you have a DSLR camera, buying an adapter for it so it's MUCH MUCH easier to use and see things. and will make using it fun, the way it is now, it's a little frustrating due to it's extreme sensitivity.

The stand is sturdy and stable, but annoying as you can;t store the telescope without dismantling the entire thing, tripod does not collapse, it has to be unscrewed. living in a small apartment, makes using this to view lunar events and stars make it very inconvenient since you have to build it every time you want to use it. It is powerful however but no coated optics or anything fancy and helpful like that. Gave it to my friend, will find something better and easier to use and live with

Es demasiado ligero el viento lo mueve, se puede ver la luna y sus cráteres para espiar a los vecinos en interiores hasta 1.5 km es de plástico