This telescope is one of my first purchases after weeks of research.  I decided to go with the biggest aperture for my buck.  Although the optics are superb, I did loose out on the quality of the mount and the tripod.  The tripod shown at left is not the standard tripod that came with the telescope.  I've made my own out of cedar which did help the jitters a bit.

The mount shown here has the optional 1702 dual axis motor drives added to it.  This allows me to guide the telescope without having to actually touch it.  Out of the box, the mount had a lot of backlash on it's axis so I completely dismantled it, cleaned it, and reassembled it re-adjusting the backlash to virtually eliminate all of it.

The dew shield shown here was something I added later which I made myself using formica that I purchased from Revy for $13.00.  I used strips of velcro along the seams which hold it together once rolled up, and 3 strips aligned together on the dew shield and scope to hold it in place.  To buy this shield from the manufacturer costs over a hundred dollars, and although looks alot better, does the exact same job as this one does.  It helps prevent dew from forming on the lens on humid nights.  Without it, my observation times were limited to less then twenty minutes at the worst of times, and since I've added this, has dramatically increased them.