Great summary article for beginners. Ed's been reviewing scopes for as long as I've been in the hobby. His advice is sound. The best advice I can give beginner

Great summary article for beginners. Ed's been reviewing scopes for as long as I've been in the hobby. His advice is sound. The best advice I can give beginners is to get out to a dark sky on a moonless clear night and enjoy the wonders above you. Maybe watch for meteors for awhile. That only costs you time and effort. No equipment needed. I've got mixed feelings about astro apps and phones/tablets. Sure their handy but I often see people looking at it instead of the night sky. While your looking down or trying to move your device around to orient it a meteor goes overhead. But you missed it jacking with your phone. Also your night vision is affected by that phone/tablet screen - every time you look at it your pupils constrict letting in less light (unless you put a red filter over the screen). generally it takes 20 minutes for your eyes to become adapted to the dark. And 3 seconds looking at a bright screen wipes out that adaptation.