Others say...

"Amazing"
I received this as a gift. I had seen it previously and was slightly skeptical about whether it could deliver as promised or be as accurate as you would need it to be. Anyway, took it out of the box and read the three pages or so of quick start up instructions. took it outside and it had a little trouble getting a gps link. I moved farther away from the house though and it synched properly. So, I pointed it up to a star, looked through the eyepiece and pressed the button and *bang*. It told me what it was. Wondering about its accuracy, I pointed it to another star nearby to see if it would give me the same name and lo it gave me a different name (the proper name). I plugged in the headphones and started listening to the audio commentary about the stars I was selecting. It was so cool. All these stars that I had no idea which ones they were, just press a button and it was telling me. It is really accurate, much more so than I even hoped. Pointing at stars and clicking is one way to use it, but you can also use the locate function and select an object, and then follow the arrows in the eyepiece until you zero in on it. I sat in my backyard in the freezing cold for about a half hour just selecting all the bright stars in the sky. I still cant believe how well it worked. A few weeks ago (after pointing Venus and Jupiter out to my 3 year old) my son started asking me the names of the stars in the sky and I had no idea, now I can tell him its Procyon, or Rigel...how much fun is that. I learned more about the stars in a half hour than I have in all the rest of my life.

"A great tool for those who need an astronomy mentor on demand"
Back at the end of September, I splurged and picked up a Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium through Amazon.

This gadget is amazing! Once its GPS acquires your position it can either direct you to pretty much any celestial body you are interested in or you can point it at anything you see in the sky and it will tell you what it is and provide you with all manner of interesting info about it such as magnitude, composition, distance even lore concerning the object. For many items you can even listen to the description through the provided ear buds.

I had an initial issue where the unit simply would not acquire the satellites necessary to allow for a GPS fix. But updating the unit's firmware (with the tool on the included CD) corrected this issue and allowed for rapid GPS position acquisition from then on.

Note that this is not a magnifying tool. The lens on it is strictly for directing you to an object (via little arrows around the circumference of the lens) or to allow you to center an object and then press the "Identify" button.

I've been using this lately with a pair of Canon 15x50 IS Binoculars that I picked up a few years ago and the two make a terrific team.

The light pollution in my area is such that even the major constellations always seem to be incomplete and I tend to have trouble identifying what should be relatively simple objects. I have used various PDA-based star charts and they've been moderately successful in guiding me. But personal planetarium is like having a seasoned astronomy veteran next to you pointing the way to the objects you're interested in observing.

It even has a "tonight's highlights" feature to help you get rolling.

I'm hoping to try my hand at a "Messier Marathon" in the next couple of weeks.

"Makes Astronomy simple."
When I first saw the SkyScout back in 2007, I thought it would be cool to have, but didn't think it was worth $400. When the price fell below $200, I had to have it. So far, I'm very happy with it. I haven't had any issues. Before using it, I upgraded to the latest firmware. Some people claim you can't use rechargeable batteries, but I'm using NiMH batteries without a problem. I wish the battery cover didn't screw closed though. It is a slight inconvenience. In my tight backyard surrounded by other houses, I locked onto the satellites with no problem. Once in awhile it may take 2 attempts, but it's a quick process. To locate a star or planet, select the object's name from the menu and follow the directional arrows through the viewfinder. To "identify" an object, simply point the SkyScout at nearly any star in the sky and click the "target" button. The SkyScout will identify and display the object you are looking at. Once you've found an object, it gives you audio and text information, including facts, history and mythology. The SkyScout seems accurate, especially "identify", and I haven't been able to confirm it's made any mistakes. All in all, I really like it at its current price.

"Fantastic! (but get at right price and source)"
This Celestron SkyScout is a superb astronomical device! Works exactly as advertised and
is great as a singluar item or with a telescope. (The optional speaker ($30) is very good for
use with group viewing, especially children too young to operate it.)

Caution: The selling/list price is $200 (even direct from celestron) so don't pay more
from other vendors (e.g. Amazon Partners such as MACY'S, 7GIFTS, etc). It's in stock NOW
via several sites [amazon (varies), celestron, adorama, astronomics, etc].

Note: This isn't a toaster; therefore a few SIMPLE factors are important: fresh batteries,
initial positional settings, and a non-signal-interfering viewing area. (Also, download the latest
database and software updates.) Afterall, this is an "Official Product of the International Year of
Astronomy 2009" and also won the following awards:

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE: Outstanding Technology of the Year (Finalist) 2006
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE MAGAZINE: Best of Adventure Gear
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION (CEA): Best of Innovations 2006


"Great tool for working with kids"
The SkyScout is easy to use, and a great tool if you are working with a group of kids around a telescope. A pair of external speakers is a must if you are going to use it for a long period of time. Great to use when aligning your telescope, too! The drop in price has made this a very affordable gift.