Celestron SkyScout (93970)

Pros: Easy to use.  Accurate.  Intuitive.

Cons: I might put a "this end towards sky" arrow on it.  No comment.  :)

The Bottom Line: No expert would admit to owning one.  But for everyone else?  GET ONE!

Review: I live in Washington D.C., so I relate well to the joke in "Madagascar" when they say "Oh look - the star is out."  It's a challenge to identify some constellations when you can't really see all the key players due to light pollution.  This ...

Pros: Works everywhere on earth, day or night. Identifies or locates every visible star or planet.

Cons: Eats batteries for breakfast. Forgets location when powered off. Hard to see stars through viewfinder.

The Bottom Line: Does it have some problems? Yes. But it does work flawlessly. Overall, I consider this an excellent product for the money.

Review: Counter to some of the other reviews here, my SkyScout has performed almost exactly as advertised, and I am extremely pleased. There are two basic functions of the SkyScout, and it performs both flawlessly. The first is identification. Point at any ...

Pros: Excellent Learning Tool Amazing accuracy Easy and Intuitive to use Love the audio Nice case

Cons: Uses 2 AA batteries too quickly.

The Bottom Line: The SkyScout is a great tool for learning about the wonders of the night sky. I would highly recommend it especially for those new to astronomy.

Review: I purchased the SkyScout a couple of days ago and it worked much better than I had expected. I was amazed that it not only new where I was (Long, Lat) but it knew the direction and angle I pointed it in. I had only a cursory read of the quick start ...

Pros: Works great, very accurate, amazing results

Cons: Battery life relatively short; need to re-initialize if the unit times out and shuts down

Review: The first unit I bought worked fine, but could not acquire the GPS fix (needed to avoid manually entering my observing location coordinates)...second unit works fine...apparently there was a bad batch (maybe the issue seen by some other reviewers). ...

Pros: Wonderful and amazing product, everything about it is great!

Cons: The only bad thing about the SkyScout is waiting for it to be shipped.

Review: I read many reviews about the SkyScout before buying one. Ever positive remark was true, it is a truly amazing device. The only negative feedback was battery consumption, which I was concerned about. I was pleasantly surprised to find the the ...

Pros: It was fun and informative to use.

Cons: Had some accuracy problems but they are somewhat minor.

The Bottom Line: If you have decent transparency in your skies at night and have a telescope or binoculars this is a nice product to have.

Review: I am going to assume that the reader already knows about the SkyScout from the other reviews and the marketing literature. I won't repeat those here but will make a couple of comments on what is not immediately known. Construction: First I did not ...

Pros: Useful for astronomy students at any level, truly amazing technology, fun (when it works)

Cons: Cheaply made, no lens caps, eats batteries, unacceptable customer support from manufacturer

The Bottom Line: I love the device, but hate the manufacturer for their cavalier support practices. I will keep it (when I get a replacement). Judge for yourself.

Review: I ordered a SkyScout the day it was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. It seemed like such amazing technology that I had to have it. Three months later I received it, tore open the box, followed the directions. Turned it on. Waited for the GPS ...

Pros: Great idea

Cons: Poorly engineered.

Review: The one I was given as a gift could not find the GPS location. While trying I went through so many batteries I decided to return it. These are engineering 101 mistakes and while it is a great idea, someone should have put the brakes on and released it ...

Pros: It names the indicated star/planet, without your entering your city or the date.

Cons: Eats batteries. High error rate. Uninformed service representatives.

The Bottom Line: Wait for an improved product. The SkyScout misnamed four of fourteen stars, an unacceptably high error rate.

Review: I read the initial product description of the SkyScout and bought one. I really liked the idea of combining the different devices into a new useful product. You point the instrument at a star or planet and it identifies it, without your having to ...

Pros: Good sales pitch and colourful box.

Cons: Don't waste anymore time or money (especially on batteries).

The Bottom Line: Wait for a truly developed unit, it will be worth it. To whoever: please allow it to keep it's co-ordinates and sort out battery power and obviously the GPS system.

Review: Looked like a fantastic piece of kit to help students I teach and also allied with a spotting scope would make thing much easier to find, a great furore was generated with fantastic reviews and recommendations therefore it was surely going to be an ...