Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Dug out my 8" Dobsonian today.

I would not recommend getting one from Costco, ToysRus, Mall stores, etc. or any other local store. If you get serious I would purchase from Orion or Celestron. They have been around forever and great intro scopes to get your feet wet.

ps: many of these local stores will push the magnification issue as being the most important thing, oh boy this little tiny scope has 575x magnification. Bull Honky It is all about "light gathering" or Aperture.

http://www.telescope.com/control/main/

http://www.celestron.com/c2/index.php

or you can buy these and other brands from places like...

http://www.telescopes.com/

I would also read up on the pros/cons of each time of telescope - refractors, reflectors, or schmidt cassegrains.