Help me buy a telescope

[lookingforlife]

Hi ,
I need to buy a telescope. I have spent nearly 3 hours reading guides and reviews , I am more confused than I was when I started.
I know it needs to be motorised and have clear view if planets as a must. Would be great if it was portable and didn't cost an arm and leg.
If anyone has any advice or suggestions I would be grateful .

www.firstlightoptics.com/ -- highly recommended

www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html perfect first scope

stargazerslounge.com/ fantastic forum :)

Who's the telescope for?

Costco has a good entry level one - has good reviews on Amazon and at Costco it comes with a smaller scope which you use to locate the planets apparently (can't remember what this was called).

Portability is important as you need to want to take it out into the garden/ woods etc to use it. If it's unwieldy, you're less likely to be bothered.

It's for my 21 year old sister who suddenly developed an interest after going on some star gazing trip in Egypt . Thanks for links I'll check them out.

Have a look on ebay.

Some real bargains

Oh dear that one sounded great then I looked at price £285 might be a bit much when next month she may have a new interest or bf :) maybe I'll get my other sister to help with cost

Ones with goto mounts

The Costco one is about £50. I wouldn't recommend spending any less than that as it won't be good enough to see much and then she'll get bored.

Costco has some good ones :) I'm happy to spend £150 maybe £200. eBay scares me a little tbh but I will spend some time going through that link tomorrow. Thanks , I didn't expect such great replies so quickly .

You could buy her a beginners telescope & then supplement it with astronomical items from the greenwich observatory shop.

shop.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory-greenwich.html

There is also a photography exhibition that she might enjoy (only useful if based in London)

www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/

Thanks everyone for suggestions I found the Skywatcher explorer that is on the royal observatory website for a good price on eBay