Celestron has jumped into the all-in-one (kinda) EA market with their new Origin “Intelligent Home Observatory.” I say kinda, as it’s not as compact, or light, as the other offerings since it’s in 3 pieces (scope, mount, tripod) rather than 2 (combined scope/mount, and tripod).
But lots of folks have been wanting a bigger EA scope, and Celestron has delivered, with it’s 6" aperature.
Here’s the specifics from Celestron:
Here’s some propaganda videos on it:
I like it, but I’ll want to wait to see if it really delivers before I spend another $4K on a telescope. But if anyone else in the club gets one, I’d love to see it in action!
My recommendation at this point remains that if you want to jump into the all-in-one EA market right now, get the ZWO Seestar S50. It’s definitely affordable at $500 and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
A nice review by Highpoint Scientific (though I’m sure slightly biased, Dealers rarely bash the products they’re trying to sell!) of the Origin by Celestron.
After reviewing everything I can find on it, it looks like Celestron may have done it right. I’m particularly impressed with the ability to upgrade the camera, and easily add filters.
The disadvantage of the bigger aperture is a much less portable telescope. The Unistellar Odyssey went the other way; lighter, more compact, and less to put together to use. Ease of use appears to be about the same, but I can’t tell without seeing the software for the Origin. I’ve looked for their app for it, but don’t think they’ve released it yet.
I think both have their places and I hope both succeed! I’d love to get one, but just don’t have $4500 to spare at the moment. (I’d love to get the Odyssey too!)
