--- product_id: 1150955 title: "Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod" brand: "celestron" price: "4383269CFA" currency: XOF in_stock: true reviews_count: 12 category: "Celestron" url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/1150955-celestron-cpc-800-xlt-computerized-telescope-w-tube-and-tripod store_origin: SN region: Senegal --- # 2032mm focal length 8" Schmidt Cassegrain Aluminum construction Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod **Brand:** celestron **Price:** 4383269CFA **Availability:** βœ… In Stock ## Summary > 🌌 Unlock the Universe's Secrets! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod by celestron - **How much does it cost?** 4383269CFA with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/1150955-celestron-cpc-800-xlt-computerized-telescope-w-tube-and-tripod) ## Best For - celestron enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted celestron brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - β€’ **Built to Last:** Durable aluminum optical tube construction ensures longevity and reliability. - β€’ **Find Your Stars:** SkyAlign technology and 9x50 finderscope make locating celestial objects a breeze. - β€’ **Explore the Cosmos:** Experience the universe like never before with the 8-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. - β€’ **Hands-Free Viewing:** Convenient remote hand control holder allows for seamless, hands-free operation. - β€’ **Precision at Your Fingertips:** 2032mm focal length for stunning clarity and detail in every celestial observation. ## Overview The Celestron CPC 800 XLT Computerized Telescope is a high-performance 8-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope featuring a 2032mm focal length and durable aluminum construction. Equipped with Starbright XLT optical system, it offers exceptional clarity and detail. The innovative SkyAlign technology and included 9x50 finderscope simplify the process of locating celestial objects, making it perfect for both novice and experienced astronomers. ## Description From the Manufacturer The CPC 800 GPS XLT is the most portable of Celestron's top-of-the-line fork-mounted astronomical telescopes and includes Celestron's premium StarBright XLT coatings. This telescope is at home as a superb visual instrument or, with optional wedge and CCD cameras, as a serious astrophotographer's tool.Turn this scope to planets and see amazing detail on the surface of Jupiter; see Cassini's Division in the rings of Saturn, and resolve details on the surface of Mars. Even the distant Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are within your reach.Although large in aperture, with its conveniently located carrying handles and an instrument weight of only 42 lb., this telescope is portable enough to setup in your backyard or take with you to your favorite dark sky location.Celestron's new CPC Series with revolutionary SkyAlign Alignment Technology re-defines everything that amateur astronomers are looking for β€” quick and simple alignment, GPS, unsurpassed optical quality, ease of set-up and use, ergonomics, enhanced computerization and, most important, affordability.Internal GPS The CPC Series' internal GPS receiver automatically downloads the date and time from orbiting satellites and pinpoints its exact location on Earth. This eliminates the need for you to manually enter the date, time, longitude and latitude.Celestron's Revolutionary SkyAlignOnce the CPC's internal GPS has established the telescope's position, aligning the telescope is as easy as 1-2-3! Simply locate and use hand control to manually point (slew) the telescope to three bright celestial objects. You do not need to know the names of the stars β€” you may even pick the moon or bright planets! Celestron's NexStar software technology will model the night sky to determine the position of every star, planet and celestial object above the horizon. Once aligned, the remote hand control allows direct access to each of the celestial catalogs in its user-friendly database.Celestial Object DatabaseThe CPC database contains over 40,000 celestial objects including Messier objects, the Caldwell Catalog, as well as NGC Galaxies, nebulae and planets. User-definable filter limits make navigating through this expansive database quicker and easier. Filter Limits let you filter out objects that are outside of your local horizon (ie, if trees or mountains were in the way).Identify feature tells you what you're looking at, but it can also be a very fun way to tour around the sky. Just point the telescope up somewhere and ask it to identify Messier objects (for instance) and it will show you the 5 nearest Messier objects to your position and let you GOTO them. You can keep doing this for different parts of the sky or for different object types -- it is a lot of fun.There's also "Solar Sys Align" that lets you align on the sun or moon for daytime observing -- it is easy to use this to see planets or bright stars in the day.Innovative FeaturesThe new CPC Series telescopes, like our acclaimed Advanced Series and premium CGE Series telescopes feature meticulously matched and hand-figured optical systems that are manufactured in our facilities in Torrance, California. In addition, all CPC models are available with StarBright and StarBright XLT High Performance Optical Coatings.With the introduction of the CPC Series, Celestron has β€œgone back to the drawing board” and re-designed, re-engineered, and re-invented a telescope family that provides superior quality, unsurpassed ease of use, and incomparable value. All CPC models ship standard with our NexRemote telescope control software. Product Description A rock-solid dual Fork arm mount and large aperture At an affordable price: that’s what makes the CPC telescope series a favorite among experienced amateur astronomers. Celestron’s revolutionary skyalign plus an internal GPS make alignment a snap. Use the Computerized hand control to quickly slew to over 40, 000 celestial objects, then track your target precisely as it moves across the night sky. Imagers can place the CPC dual Fork arm mount on an optional HD Pro wedge to polar align it for long-exposure astrophotography. Thoughtful ergonomic design makes setting up and breaking down your CPC quick and painless. Review: Nice telescope! - Update January 2018: I used this scope for the solar eclipse and have been photographing deep sky objects with a wedge. It's still going strong and working fine after I replaced the front cell. I've had a few issues with the GPS receiver that I've been able to resolve. I recently replaced the nylon ball bearings in the base of the mount with stainless steel bearings in order to get smoother tracking for astrophotography. Update March 2016 - Parts are difficult to obtain from Celestron!! I had an unfortunate accident with my telescope while setting up a outreach demonstration in a gym on a cloudy night. I forgot to tighten the thumbscrews that secure the scope to the tripod, and then tried to adjust the tripod! It was a dumb mistake and entirely my fault. I typically am more careful but guess I was in a hurry. The telescope fell and dented the front cell (the bezel that the lens cap attaches to). I've since tested the scope with an artificial star and found that the optics are still very fine! The collimation was off a bit but not by much. I added "Bob's knobs" and was able to get a nice diffraction pattern during the fine in-focus collimation adjustment. Celestron refused to sell me the front cell!! They offered the option of sending the scope back to the factory but it will take 20 to 40 days and cost an estimated $300. I don't mind the $300 so much, but don't want to be without the scope for a month as the weather is just getting nice and Jupiter is nicely placed! I continued bugging Celestron, and they reluctantly agreed to sell me the front cell. It wasn't too hard to replace and I collimated the optical tube. It's been working fine ever since! Update November 2015, a few months after purchase: =========================================== I'm still happy wit this purchase. This telescope has rekindled my interest in amateur astronomy and helped me to see the sky in a "new light". It's also been a hit with my neighbors when I've invited them to star parties. The GOTO feature is really useful and helps keep things moving. The tripod and telescope are a bit unwieldy to carry into the field, but that's subjective. It takes me about 15 minutes to unload the stuff from my car and set up at my favorite field not far from my home. I'd seen the planets before in my old 4.5" Newtonian scope that were OK, but have got some great views of the lunar eclipse, Saturn, Venus, and the moon with the CPC800 in the couple of months that I've owned it, and I'm dying to see Jupiter when it rises high in the night sky for me in the spring of 2016 (I'm not a morning person!). Meanwhile this CPC800 has helped me to discover the beauty of deep sky objects such as galaxies and nebulae. I say this with some trepidation because you shouldn't expect to run out and see images as you see them in magazines. The great ring nebula in Lyra for example, still looks like a small fuzzy doughnut. But it is resolvable and unmistakable in this telescope, whereas in my 4.5" Newtonian it was barely recognizable. Such objects will never look as you see them in a magazine because the human eye is not as sensitive as long exposure photography, and we're bound to do our observing from under a thick layer of atmosphere. Speaking of which, I'll note that I'm located in a rural area with low light pollution and at about 1000' above sea level. I've gained a new appreciation for how special and rare dark skies are. Pity the city-dwellers who cannot see the milk way! That's the way the ball bounces. I've started experimenting with astrophotography through this scope and have seen some colors in the nebulae through an inexpensive used DSLR camera from eBay. It's opened a whole new world for me but I see this as a specialized area that will take me a long while to master. One of the first things you'll run into with this Schmidt-Cassegrain scope as opposed to a Newtonian telescope is dew. Moisture in the air will condense on the corrector plate and end your viewing session before you're ready. It's inevitable. I made a primitive dew shield from flexible black foam craft sheets. This works well, is inexpensive, and buys you a couple of hours before the dew forms. I eventually constructed a 3-watt dew heater. These things can be easily purchased as well, but I like DYI when possible. Learning these things is a natural progression if you take this hobby seriously. Astronomy requires patience and endurance. Summer buzzing bugs - winter freezing feet - cloudy nights. But you'll be rewarded if you stick with it. Have fun! ... It's a very nice instrument. I'm happy with it so far. I've had better luck using the one-star alignment method by just pointing it to a known object than by using the three star alignment. One star alignment is pretty quick and gets me close enough to find other objects pretty well. The tripod is very solid. That tracking works well. Images are quite crisp with the supplied eyepiece. The controller is fairly intuitive, although it feels a bit dated with the menu-driven two-line LCD display. I found the power switch LED to be too bright as it shines up from the base pretty much into your eyes. I covered it with a piece of black tape. The underside of the tripod has six triangular cavities cast into the aluminum. I added red LED light strips in these compartments shining down on the accessory tray and found these to be very helpful. The light shines down onto the tray and not into your eyes since the LED's themselves are well hidden in the cavities. I power the telescope and other accessories (including the LEDs) from a 20 aH sealed lead acid battery that I carry in a canvas bag. I had a great time with this during the lunar eclipse star party on September 27th. The GOTO feature was extremely useful during the eclipse. As the skies darkened and stars started popping out, I could quickly slew to the ring nebula or Andromeda, and then easily slew right back to the moon to check its progress. The DC power connector has a locking ring that is supposed to engage with threads on the DC socket. It doesn't. Celestron used a DC socket with threads that don't protrude enough from the base. I find it a curious oversight. The correct socket is probably only worth a couple of bucks. I worry that the power cord might pull out and mess up my alignment, so I tie the cord through the handle on the fork. The finder scope inverts the image and has a non-illuminated reticle, and the adjustment screws protrude further than I would like. I found that they interfered with my piggyback camera mount. So I'm not really nuts about the finder scope. I've generally been pretty pleased with purchases on desertcart. However, this is the most expensive item I've bought from desertcart so far. In retrospect, I would buy it from another supplier. desertcart chose to ship this using a freight carrier from a warehouse about 1000 miles from me, which took about a week. It arrived on time and in good condition, but later I later discovered that I could have bought this from another supplier in a neighboring state who would have shipped UPS without charging sales tax. I probably could have received the telescope in two days instead of a week. It's a nice scope and expect to get years of enjoyment from it. Review: Box damage and factory seal broken as if not a new unit. - The box containing the telescope tube arrived with significant damage with deep impact holes that penetrated through the inner box. This is suppose to be a new unit, yet both the outer and inner box are unsealed, The factory tape sealing the box having been cut. In addition to not being sealed the box appears to have been dropped on one of it's corners from a great height and looks like an accordion. I am not even bothering to unpack the box and have requested a replacement unit to be sent out. ## Features - Item may ship in more than one box and may arrive separately - 8 inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope - 2032 millimeter focal length - Aluminum optical tube construction - Starbright XLT high performance optical system ; Convenient remote hand control holder - Allows you to view information hands-free while using the scope - SkyAlign alignment technology ; 9x50 finderscope to help accurately find objects ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B0009XH79U | | Best Sellers Rank | #3,277 in Camera & Photo Products ( See Top 100 in Camera & Photo Products ) #27 in Catadioptric Telescopes | | Brand | Celestron | | Built-In Media | 1.25" Star Diagonal, 40mm eyepiece, 50mm 9x50 Finderscope with Bracket, Accessory Tray, Instruction Manual, Mount and Tripod, Optical tube | | Coating | StarBright XLT | | Customer Reviews | 3.6 out of 5 stars 36 Reviews | | Eye Piece Lens Description | Plossl | | Field Of View | 1.15 Degrees | | Finderscope | 9x50 finderscope | | Focal Length Description | 2032 millimeters | | Focus Type | Manual Focus | | Global Trade Identification Number | 00050234107310 | | Item Dimensions D x W x H | 36"D x 36"W x 66"H | | Manufacturer | Celestron | | Manufacturer Part Number | 11073-XLT | | Model Name | CPC 800 GPS (XLT) Computerized Telescope | | Model Number | 11073-XLT | | Mount | Altazimuth Mount | | Number of Batteries | 1 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included) | | Objective Lens Diameter | 203.2 Millimeters | | Optical Tube Length | 432 Millimeters | | Optical-Tube Length | 432 Millimeters | | Power Source | DC Power Supply | | Telescope Mount Description | Altazimuth Mount | | UPC | 050234107310 | | Warranty Description | Two Year | | Zoom Ratio | 50 | ## Product Details - **Brand:** Celestron - **Model Name:** CPC 800 GPS (XLT) Computerized Telescope - **Optical Tube Length:** 432 Millimeters - **Eye Piece Lens Description:** Plossl - **Objective Lens Diameter:** 203.2 Millimeters - **Telescope Mount Description:** Altazimuth Mount - **Product Dimensions:** 36"D x 36"W x 66"H - **Focus Type:** Manual Focus - **Power Source:** DC Power Supply - **Finderscope:** 9x50 finderscope ## Images ![Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/719MOZasfhL.jpg) ![Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71DUsCGvT8L.jpg) ![Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61KxSlMZPrL.jpg) ![Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ybQhJyiTL.jpg) ![Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61kCE1l2eDL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Configuration, Style** options. ## Questions & Answers **Q: can you see pluto with one of these?** A: I've seen Pluto with my CPC 1100 and a 20mm lens but it is "extremely" small...no surface detail...just a small dot. It's possible to use a more powerful lens to make Pluto larger but you will definitely loose detail with a more powerful lens. If you expect to see surface detail...you need a much larger scope...possibly an 18 inch or bigger. **Q: I'm very new to the hobby and recently received the CPC 800 as a gift. Can someone recommend what I should buy to magnify the stars and planets** A: To calculate magnification, divide the focal length of the telescope (2032 mm for the CPC 800) by the focal length of the eyepiece. If you also add a Barlow to the eyepiece, multiply the result of the preceding step by the Barlow's magnification (some Barlows magnify more than 2x). The most optimistic rule of thumb I have seen for useful telescope magnification is a maximum of 60x per inch of aperture (480x for the CPC 800), but this requires perfect skies and a perfectly collimated telescope. I prefer to think in terms of 50x per inch (400x for the CPC 800) as the maximum for my best observing sites and 30x-40x per inch (240x-320x for the CPC 800) for my usual observing sites. If you magnify too much, the image becomes "mushy" and you can actually lose detail.For planets and the Moon, I typically use a 13-mm TeleVue Ethos, which gives 156x on the CPC 800, and an 8-mm TeleVue Delos, which gives 252x. My usual observing sites are in California's San Joaquin Valley and range from urban to suburban to semi-rural to rural, but are all below an elevation of 600 feet and are often compromised by haze/smog. A magnification of 250x is about all these skies can handle, and sometimes even 200x is too much. Two months ago, from a local shopping center under better than normal skies, I was able to clearly see Hadley Rille and other major features around the Apollo 15 landing site with my 8-mm eyepiece.On the other hand, the high-elevation dark sky sites that I use in the summer (6500 ft to 8200 ft elevation and Bortle Class 1-2) can often take well more than 250x with the CPC 800. Adding a Barlow to the 13-mm gives me 312x and nice views. Adding a Barlow to my 10-mm Vixen Lanthanum (which usually stays with my 5" scope) gives me 406x, which has been marginal to OK for me. I have Barlow'ed the 8-mm, but 504x on the CPC 800 was too much the one time I tried it.No matter how much you try to magnify the stars, they will still be pinpoints in the CPC 800. It takes professional observatories (sometimes with interferometers) to resolve the handful of nearby large stars into anything more than a dot. However, high magnification is useful for splitting tight double stars. The theoretical maximum resolution of the CPC 800 is 0.69 arcseconds (Rayleigh Criterion) and 0.57 arcseconds (Dawes Limit). Rayleigh is equivalent to true separation, while Dawes is equivalent to the beginning of separation. As a practical matter, I suggest figuring on 1 arcsecond for typical good conditions and maybe 1.5 arcseconds or less for worse conditions. BTW, 1 arcsecond is the angle subtended by a lunar crater about 1.16 miles across (based on the average center-to-center Earth-Moon distance of 238,900 miles).I hope this helps. **Q: How much does it weigh???** A: I have had this scope since 2007. As Rita mentioned above, the total telescope kit weighs 42 lbs. It is NOT 60 lbs, or 65 lbs, or 95 lbs. IIRC, the tripod weighs 19 lbs and the forks/scope weighs 23 pounds. Both pieces are VERY manageable. The forks/scope is much easier to handle than the equivalent Meade. Both of the Meade's handles are mid-way up the fork arms, but on the CPC the "handle" for the left fork arm is under the base of the arm and this makes it much more steady to move and mount on the tripod. **Q: I noticed that the HD version has updated gears and drive. Does this version have it as well? Is there really THAT much of a difference between the** A: While the CPC 1100 I bought a year ago is not the new improved version, I'm not sure if the extra cost is worth it for more casual observers. The improvements they made are significant, but you're probably only going to notice them if you do long exposure astrophotography where you're going to be tracking an object for many minutes at a time and require rock-steady alignment. If astrophotography is what you're interested in, you don't want an alt/azimuth mount like this in the first place, you want a German equatorial mount (called a GEM). In order to do long exposures with my scope you'd have to add something called a wedge, which will set you back another $300 or more. That allows you to do polar alignment for long exposures. While there are wedges available for this scope that will do the job, I don't recommend using them for scopes this big and heavy. Wedges are fiddly things at the best of times because they put the scope in an awkward and sometimes unstable position, and are difficult to get aligned properly. For astrophotography I'd recommend you get a GEM to begin with.As for the optics, the new glass is certainly an improvement, but again, it depends on what you plan on using the scope for. Visually the images through my CPC are absolutely outstanding even in my light polluted area, and it will certainly do a good job for astrophotography. But the upgraded glass appears to have better image quality at the edges of the field of view. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nice telescope! *by D***E on October 24, 2015* Update January 2018: I used this scope for the solar eclipse and have been photographing deep sky objects with a wedge. It's still going strong and working fine after I replaced the front cell. I've had a few issues with the GPS receiver that I've been able to resolve. I recently replaced the nylon ball bearings in the base of the mount with stainless steel bearings in order to get smoother tracking for astrophotography. Update March 2016 - Parts are difficult to obtain from Celestron!! I had an unfortunate accident with my telescope while setting up a outreach demonstration in a gym on a cloudy night. I forgot to tighten the thumbscrews that secure the scope to the tripod, and then tried to adjust the tripod! It was a dumb mistake and entirely my fault. I typically am more careful but guess I was in a hurry. The telescope fell and dented the front cell (the bezel that the lens cap attaches to). I've since tested the scope with an artificial star and found that the optics are still very fine! The collimation was off a bit but not by much. I added "Bob's knobs" and was able to get a nice diffraction pattern during the fine in-focus collimation adjustment. Celestron refused to sell me the front cell!! They offered the option of sending the scope back to the factory but it will take 20 to 40 days and cost an estimated $300. I don't mind the $300 so much, but don't want to be without the scope for a month as the weather is just getting nice and Jupiter is nicely placed! I continued bugging Celestron, and they reluctantly agreed to sell me the front cell. It wasn't too hard to replace and I collimated the optical tube. It's been working fine ever since! Update November 2015, a few months after purchase: =========================================== I'm still happy wit this purchase. This telescope has rekindled my interest in amateur astronomy and helped me to see the sky in a "new light". It's also been a hit with my neighbors when I've invited them to star parties. The GOTO feature is really useful and helps keep things moving. The tripod and telescope are a bit unwieldy to carry into the field, but that's subjective. It takes me about 15 minutes to unload the stuff from my car and set up at my favorite field not far from my home. I'd seen the planets before in my old 4.5" Newtonian scope that were OK, but have got some great views of the lunar eclipse, Saturn, Venus, and the moon with the CPC800 in the couple of months that I've owned it, and I'm dying to see Jupiter when it rises high in the night sky for me in the spring of 2016 (I'm not a morning person!). Meanwhile this CPC800 has helped me to discover the beauty of deep sky objects such as galaxies and nebulae. I say this with some trepidation because you shouldn't expect to run out and see images as you see them in magazines. The great ring nebula in Lyra for example, still looks like a small fuzzy doughnut. But it is resolvable and unmistakable in this telescope, whereas in my 4.5" Newtonian it was barely recognizable. Such objects will never look as you see them in a magazine because the human eye is not as sensitive as long exposure photography, and we're bound to do our observing from under a thick layer of atmosphere. Speaking of which, I'll note that I'm located in a rural area with low light pollution and at about 1000' above sea level. I've gained a new appreciation for how special and rare dark skies are. Pity the city-dwellers who cannot see the milk way! That's the way the ball bounces. I've started experimenting with astrophotography through this scope and have seen some colors in the nebulae through an inexpensive used DSLR camera from eBay. It's opened a whole new world for me but I see this as a specialized area that will take me a long while to master. One of the first things you'll run into with this Schmidt-Cassegrain scope as opposed to a Newtonian telescope is dew. Moisture in the air will condense on the corrector plate and end your viewing session before you're ready. It's inevitable. I made a primitive dew shield from flexible black foam craft sheets. This works well, is inexpensive, and buys you a couple of hours before the dew forms. I eventually constructed a 3-watt dew heater. These things can be easily purchased as well, but I like DYI when possible. Learning these things is a natural progression if you take this hobby seriously. Astronomy requires patience and endurance. Summer buzzing bugs - winter freezing feet - cloudy nights. But you'll be rewarded if you stick with it. Have fun! ... It's a very nice instrument. I'm happy with it so far. I've had better luck using the one-star alignment method by just pointing it to a known object than by using the three star alignment. One star alignment is pretty quick and gets me close enough to find other objects pretty well. The tripod is very solid. That tracking works well. Images are quite crisp with the supplied eyepiece. The controller is fairly intuitive, although it feels a bit dated with the menu-driven two-line LCD display. I found the power switch LED to be too bright as it shines up from the base pretty much into your eyes. I covered it with a piece of black tape. The underside of the tripod has six triangular cavities cast into the aluminum. I added red LED light strips in these compartments shining down on the accessory tray and found these to be very helpful. The light shines down onto the tray and not into your eyes since the LED's themselves are well hidden in the cavities. I power the telescope and other accessories (including the LEDs) from a 20 aH sealed lead acid battery that I carry in a canvas bag. I had a great time with this during the lunar eclipse star party on September 27th. The GOTO feature was extremely useful during the eclipse. As the skies darkened and stars started popping out, I could quickly slew to the ring nebula or Andromeda, and then easily slew right back to the moon to check its progress. The DC power connector has a locking ring that is supposed to engage with threads on the DC socket. It doesn't. Celestron used a DC socket with threads that don't protrude enough from the base. I find it a curious oversight. The correct socket is probably only worth a couple of bucks. I worry that the power cord might pull out and mess up my alignment, so I tie the cord through the handle on the fork. The finder scope inverts the image and has a non-illuminated reticle, and the adjustment screws protrude further than I would like. I found that they interfered with my piggyback camera mount. So I'm not really nuts about the finder scope. I've generally been pretty pleased with purchases on Amazon. However, this is the most expensive item I've bought from Amazon so far. In retrospect, I would buy it from another supplier. Amazon chose to ship this using a freight carrier from a warehouse about 1000 miles from me, which took about a week. It arrived on time and in good condition, but later I later discovered that I could have bought this from another supplier in a neighboring state who would have shipped UPS without charging sales tax. I probably could have received the telescope in two days instead of a week. It's a nice scope and expect to get years of enjoyment from it. ### ⭐ Box damage and factory seal broken as if not a new unit. *by C***M on December 7, 2013* The box containing the telescope tube arrived with significant damage with deep impact holes that penetrated through the inner box. This is suppose to be a new unit, yet both the outer and inner box are unsealed, The factory tape sealing the box having been cut. In addition to not being sealed the box appears to have been dropped on one of it's corners from a great height and looks like an accordion. I am not even bothering to unpack the box and have requested a replacement unit to be sent out. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Quite Impressed at ease of setup *by M***L on December 17, 2023* This is my 3rd telescope with my second telescope being a Meade ETX 125. For comparison, I found the Celestron light years (sorry for the pun) easier to setup--granted there is a 20 yr difference in age but from what I see online, Meade scopes have not improved setup. Connecting the fork/OTA to the tripod took mere minutes and was very easy--the fork has bevels that snap in place so you know when its on the tripod correctly. I am not concerned about trying this at night when its dark (and I cannot say the same with the ETX). Installing the finder scope was a matter of 2 screws. Aligning the finder scope with the OTA was just as easy--instead of fiddling with 2 pairs of 3 screws at either end of the finder scope, I only needed to adjust 2 at the back. Aligning the scope using "Solar System Align". I tried alignment with the moon and worked like a charm--well enough, that once I got the finder scope and OTA relatively aligned, GOTO was able to find Saturn, visible in day light at 50x, thereby confirming setup and alignment worked well enough to be useful with a single planetary object alignment in daylight. I also tried alignment with Jupiter (at night) and was similarly pleased with the outcome--I was able to use GOTO Uranus and identify it. Yes, the scope and tripod are heavy but in separate pieces they are manageable. Probably the most disappointing part of this purchase is the 40mm eyepiece. The field of view is very limited and I am very glad I already had other eyepieces to use. I have a similar view point on the field of view on the finder scope--its a bit limiting and would like better field of view. ## Frequently Bought Together - Celestron Cpc 800 XLT Computerized Telescope w/Tube and Tripod - Celestron – NexYZ – 3–Axis Universal Smartphone Adapter for Telescope – Digiscoping Smartphone Adapter – Capture Images and Video Through Your Telescope or Spotting Scope - Celestron 94303 1.25 inch Eyepiece & Filter Kit - Includes 14 Pieces in Metal Foam-Lined Carry Case, Silver --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - πŸ›’ **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** β€” Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** β€” Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - πŸ’° **No Hidden Fees** β€” All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - πŸ”„ **15-Day Free Returns** β€” Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - πŸ”’ **Secure Payments** β€” Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** β€” Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sn/products/1150955-celestron-cpc-800-xlt-computerized-telescope-w-tube-and-tripod](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/1150955-celestron-cpc-800-xlt-computerized-telescope-w-tube-and-tripod) --- *Product available on Desertcart Senegal* *Store origin: SN* *Last updated: 2026-07-04*