Orions' coming soon notice on their web site

It has been in the bottom corner for a while and now they have knocked 19% off their Intellicope dobs w/object locator. Does this mean that the pyrex mirrors reserved for these dobs are going to a Orion designed collapsable truss style with push to goto??
I would assume that they would keep selling their XT classics.
Tom

Thomas K O'Byrne said:

It has been in the bottom corner for a while and now they have knocked 19% off their Intellicope dobs w/object locator. Does this mean that the pyrex mirrors reserved for these dobs are going to a Orion designed collapsable truss style with push to goto??
I would assume that they would keep selling their XT classics.
Tom

Orion designed? Not likely. Synta's Flex Tube dobs? Probably. AFAIK, all Synta dobs now have Pyrex.

Hmm, This piqued my interest. I didn't know there were synta "flextube" dobs, so I found them on skywatcher's site:
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106

Yes, i think it's likely orion is about to 'unveil' the exact same thing (funny to try to build suspense when you're not the first to market with it, and by 'funny' i mean 'lame'). If you were the first, of course, then by all means, do a prolonged magic show and unveil away to applause, but come on orion ?!!

Anyway, as this is the first time I saw the flex tube, I thought this could be quite a good weight saving (since 40 pounds is kind of a lot for an 8" dob.) turns out the hollow or flex tube version is almost 10 pounds HEAVIER.. come on synta! Yeah, it's easier to store if it collapses, but its funny (and by 'funny' i mean lame) to look at the above page, and visualize the little bit of aluminum cylinder that was removed and then replaced with robust hardware and tubes to make the extension contraption. and in the end actually causes added weight!

Not the vision of the dobsonian evolution when carving away tube using air instead of metal and brige-type engineering to introduce struts, trusses, strings to save weight. The 12" version is 90 pounds. I don't know about you but that's beyond what I can lug around the back yard and therefore not what one expects from a small dob.

Tom.

It's kinda fun watching them hype a new product.