The following is a post to the sci.astro.amateur newsgroup in response to
one of the religous wars that perpetually flairs - are Tasco telescopes
worth buying?  I can't claim to be an expert here, because I've never
owned a Tasco.  But this guy has.  His post does a good job of cutting
through the unfounded opinions and getting to the facts.  (I especially
like his points 2 and 3.  :-)
____________________________________________________________________________

From wanax@perry.gulfnet.com Mon Feb 23 08:51:15 CST 1998
Article: 147902 of sci.astro.amateur
Subject: Re: I,m stuck with a Tasco, what now???

Please you guys.  At least 80% of the people on this newsgroup talk big
scopes, like you and I are just little fish.  I've been happy
tooling about with my little 4.5" relector for 2 years now and I admit
it.  I have 2 eyepeices, and my next big purchase will be a 2x barlow. 
My mount is shaky EQ, and I still use a star atlas to find M objects.  
The operative word is FUN.  If you look through your scope and see
saturn's rings and Jupiter's moon, then that is more than you see with
your naked eye.  Hell, half the fun of astromony for me is hunting the
deep sky objects.

Think about it....if all you had to do was tell some damned computer to
point at it, what fun would it all be after about a year.  What skill is
there in driving a computer telescope.  I prefer to learn the sky, not a
keyboard.

  Those with the truly big power machines and hi-tech gizmos are not on
this group, because there is no one to talk to here on the level and
issues that concern them.  I have an associate in Charlotte NC who runs
a 16" for a small observatory; he complains about extremely technical
things that are not related to the comparative qualities of Clestron v
Meade.  

Face the facts, most of us here dream of a 10" eq mounted machine, but
we live with what we have.  That's O.K., just don't let the bombastics
here discourage you from using your Tasco scope.  I know right now of 3
people who would love to have your scope; I live is a very rural area,
and my 4.5" is the biggest scope for 30 miles around. 

Also here are some good points to remember:
1.  You can walk outside with your scope and start observing within 1
minute.  Complicated scopess require much fussing.
2.  You can transport your scope to any star party and be assured that
no one will interupt your observing to look through your scope.
3.  You can go to star parties and look through other people's scopes
because they will feel sorry for you as a Tasco owner.
4.  After you've spent 2 years on your Tasco scope, you'll know more
about the sky than anyone slewing around via computer, for those
computers don't help you identify star patterns and markers.
5.  You didn't spend a fortune on expensive materials with a very narrow
useage scale.
6.  Your friends will be very impressed as you show them things they
haven't even realized truly exists...like Jupiter's moons.  Remember
your friends don't have scopes at all.

Wanax