Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium

This little device does exactly what it says it does. It is amazing and I spend as much time trying to figure out how it works as I do using it. It really is ingenius. Having the audio of several hundred stars and planets in addition to the text only for several thousand is a definite plus. For the amateur who just wants to know what they're looking at while sitting in the hot tub at night this is the thing to get.

I love this thing! It's a great product, however, be prepared to use up some batteries even with the battery saver shields.

I am not an astronomy buff or anything like that but I love to sit outside on a dark night and look at the stars. I really thought this would be fun and interesting but I wasn't impressed at all. The huge, enormous, gigantic flaw in this is that the viewing is not magnified at all. When I tried to check on a star I could see clearly, it was very hard to find it again looking through the scope - I kept drifting to the same brighter stars over and over. This would've worked much, much better if it had a 2x or 3x magnification which should be trivial to do. One note is that I am very near-sighted and wear very strong glasses so that might have been a factor.

My other comment is "so what"? Even when I could find things clearly or pointed randomly and listened to the information it was not especially interesting. I find a simple Peterson's Guide to the Northern Sky or something like that to be much more interesting.

If this cost $50 or so I could see keeping this as an occasional toy. However for almost $200 it is being returned. As usual, Amazon is great about taking it back.

I have had this since Christmas and it has been working without fail. It acquires every star and planet I aim it at. I'm constantly amazed it can find objects, even if the star is very close to another one. I use rechargeable batteries(maH)with no problems. Even after the most recent update, I'm having no issues.

This is a great product. It is elegantly designed, and of sturdy construction. Its controls are intuitive. It does precisely what is advertised. It is so much fun to use. BUT, its computer software is not compatible with Vista 64 bit. Celestron's Customer Service says that it has no idea if a software upgrade is planned, or when, if ever, it will be released ("But just keep checking the website.") An Achilles Heel that keeps it from getting five stars.