Hardin Optical????

Anyone ever hear of this outfit. They have a 10" DOB for $600. www.ForThe Night Sky.com

I don't know the circumstances behind this, but all of the sudden there are many imitators to the Orion XT-10, with generic names (such as the one on the website you posted). Orion has a message on its website entitled "Beware of inferior look-alike telescopes!". I bought one of these imitators from another outfit that is well known (for a lot less than 599 - shop around if you are really interested). I don't have any experience with a reflector other than the one I got, so can't tell you if it is better or worse than an actual XT-10. Ed Ting's review of the true XT-10 indicates that there have been some concerns about the optics, although overall he gives it a good recommendation. I have bought several accessories from Orion meant for the XT-10, with no compatibility problems.

The design itself is excellent, which I guess is why it is getting imitated. Quite light for a 10", pretty easy to get around, very quick to set up, holds collimation very well (at least mine does), and the spring tension allows me to switch in and out heavy eyepieces like the 22mm Panoptic without the scope budging. My only fix recommendations would be to sand down the teflon pads touching the altitude bearings (too smooth), and add some smoothness to the az motion (milk jug washer, furniture slider, etc).

Ryan O