So what's the problem with Meade????

Hello,

I've been following the Coronado thread and have seen all the posts that are unfriendly toward Meade and I am wondering why. I know they won a law suit against Celestron, but it seems to me Celestron should be getting the flack for that and not Meade. I mean they are the guys found in the wrong.

To me it seems Meade is fairly cutting edge and their products seem to represented realistically. I am under the impression that it is pretty much of a toss up between Celestron and Meade scopes. Meade's advertising seems honest unlike Bose Audio and some other manufacturers that draw well-deserved severe critism.

Has Meade done some Bill Gates-like maneuver in the past to create hard feeling? Is the critism just because they are so large?

I own a Meade 10" CAT and I know about the quality control problems but I hear the same thing about Celestron and some others, so what gives?

I guess I am sorry that Coronado has been sold, but since the choices were probably sell or close the doors, I am glad a successful company bought them. At least the prices and supply might be okay.

Now I just hope the quality stays up. And since I am one of the guys who could never justify buying anything above the level of the PST, I can naively hope that the prices come down to the point where I can go up the Coronado line a step or two.

Good luck.

Tom B.

"I own a Meade 10" CAT and I know about the quality control problems but I hear the same thing about Celestron and some others, so what gives?"

Meade discussions inevitably lead to comparisons between Meade/Celestron SCTs...but Meade's "serious" scopes are a tiny fraction of their total business. The vast majority of Meade's profits come from slapping their name on department store crud. When getting back into the hobby a few years ago, I took the Meade name, in my anachronistic, mid-80's frame of mind, to be a sign of quality. Big mistake. And my associated customer service experience was nothing that endeared me to them, either.

Still, it's important to keep things in perspective. Meade ain't no Enron. And certainly this is better than Coronado disappearing completely. But it's hard to imagine that some dilution of quality isn't eventually inevitable for the Coronado line. If Meade sincerely wants to keep the quality up and suceeds, Bravo! We'll see.

Tom, I once bought a scope new from them --
it had several waves of astigmatism, one of the
drive axes was warped, the drive gears were
stripped, the power adapter was DOA. Once
I fixed all that, I discovered the goto couldn't
find anything. "Never again" I tell myself.
- John B.

The problem with Meade is that they are a large company. Some in this hobby enjoy purchasing expensive boutique or "premium" equipment since we all know that exclusivity is at least as important as performance. Sure the APs and TAKS are great products, but they MAY be less good in terms of relative value compared with other "mass marketers".

To some extent, this may be covered by the higher resell value – but you still have to throw out a few grand to purchase a 4” refractor (for example)! It is the opinion of many that Meade and Celestron can not do anything right. Individuals in this camp often believe that mass-market telescopes are basically junk, and that serious observers must shift their focus (excuse the pun) to “premium scopes” in order to “properly” enjoy the wonders of the night sky. Meade is not the best optical manufacturer, but their line of SCTs with Autostar are quite decent for the money.

As I see it, the real problem with Meade is that they are ubiquitous. If a product is good, scarcity can elevate its status to legendary. This phenomena may be seen in audio components, watches, automobiles, bino-viewers and obviously telescopes. Once you scrap together several G’s for a 4” scope – do you really want some bloke telling you that the views through his/her Orion ED-80mm look just about as good? Not!

I have owned a NGPS 11 and recently purchased a LX200 14" from Meade. I guess I am lucky because I have had zero problems. I am/was very pleased with both scopes. Both have their pros and cons and could do things better. No one is perfect. I have no complaints. All of this Meade bashing is a bunch of crap... both companies have their service issues (read the yahoo groups). I own a late model Porsche and BMW, believe me they have issues, but the driving experience is not diminished. Get real.

Meade is publicly traded. They have to make quarterly #'s. Coronado was probably going out of business. Get real people... this is a business... yeah there are better scopes... someday (hopefully soon)I'll get a RC or some other 20k++ setup. Until then I can deal with Meade and/or Celestron and be very satisfied. You get what you pay for and you have a choice where to spend your money.

Where Meade has a problem is in communication. Given the number of threads that appear on this list that are critical of Meade quality control and customer service, a responsive company would (1) listen to the voice of their customers and focus on these issues and (2) communicate the steps they've taken to address these concerns. The fact that Meade is mute on these issues points out that they are really haven't figured out how to be responsive to their customers.

Eventually Meade will pay for this, because potentially new customers will read these threads and may make their buying decisions based on the criticisms expressed here. In fact, they may already being feeling this but aren't aware of it because there really isn't a way to gauge the number of potential buyers who don't choose your products compared to a competitor.