Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium

i got it and tried a whole night to lock the GPS signals, now i have to return it or get a replacement, what the quality control!
i checked some discussion group on web and found couples of similar issues happend.
but anyway i need one to teach my daughter the sky knowleadge.....

The Sky Scout is a great astronomy teaching tool, and I would recommend it for ages 8 through adult, and skill levels beginner to pro. The Sky Scout is great for groups and individuals, that want to learn the night sky quickly. Mounted to a non go-to telescope or pair of binoculars give the amateur astronomer a powerful observing tool. It is great for hiking and camping trips where you can not pack in heavy astronomy equipment. I highly recommend this product.

Dr. Ralph R. Miller

I love the SkyScout and the information it supplies despite the occasional bug. My husband and I recently took ours out on a moonless summer night to identify the stars, galaxies, and planets overhead. Just one point of the camera, lining up the celestial object in the middle of the scope, and one push of another button to record the choice, and we had the identification. We scrolled through the list of evening highlights, my favorite feature, to make sure we saw everything; the SkyScout helps you locate these objects by guiding you through the scope with red lights until it is centered in the scope. Very cool.

We do encounter the occasional glitch with the GPS (it sometimes takes too long to register), with the season (once it had the moon above us when it had already set), and with a "magnetic interference" error message. We are always able to set it right by restarting it or temporarily pointing the SkyScout in another direction. The display is black on backlit red, and while it provides light to view the information in the dark, we still had to put on reading glasses to see the small letters. Younger or better eyes shouldn't have this problem. If you plan to use this a lot, you probably will want to buy two sets of rechargeable batteries.

The interface is very user-friendly, and a glance at the quick-start guide should get most people started right away; however, make sure you eventually read the included materials to learn about all the features.

The SkyScout is great fun, especially if you have access to an open sky without a lot of light pollution. Although the SkyScout will "find" objects in a lighter sky, you won't be able to see them. This is not a telescope but rather a tool to identify the lights in the sky. It would make a great gift for anyone interested in the night sky, from preteens (provided they are careful with expensive items) to adults.

-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann

I bought my Sky Scout on Jun30th and got it on july 8th. It works great it was hard to up date but it worked before and after I love this thing.

Wow, my wife bought this for me for fathers day and I can't put it down. I've gained as much knowledge from this little gadget as I did in my astronomy class in college. I'd recommend a sky scout to anyone with kids-they'll ask some tough questions and you'll sound like a genius with its help. One thing to look out for is the sleeves that you are required to place over batteries before installation do not fit all rechargeable batteries. Don't be worried about confusing instructions or a myriad of obscure functions, you'll be discovering new worlds in a matter of minutes.