telescope info

Hi, i'm looking to buy a telescope for a family member and am not sure what I should be looking for. I don't want to spend more than a couple of hundred pounds. Could someone give me some pointers.

Costco stores have a fairly good deal on Meade 90mm refractors with autostar for around $195.00. I think it's a better deal than the celestron 4.5" reflector that I bought on sale from them a few years ago.
The refractor is a good way to go if people aren't too familar with a scope and the autostar can help them find objects they probably wouldn't be able to locate without it.

The December issue of Sky & Tel just ran a nice article on starter scopes you might find interesting. The Orion lineup of scopes came out front runners.

The general rule of thumb is the more light you gather, the more you can "see". So the aperture size (diameter of the objective - be this a lens or a mirror) is the first order of business. Mirrors are less costly to produce in larger diameters - so your pound will buy more performance, generally speaking, in mirror-based design such as the Newtonian.

In that price range I'd suggest taking a close look at a 6" or 8" Newtonian optical tube assembly on an alti-azimuth (dobsonian) mount. For example the Orion SkyQuest™ XT8 Classic Dobsonian Reflector. Accessorize it with a Telrad finder and a collimating device.