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Celestron vs Meade: Which is Better? [Comparison]

January 8, 2022 by Maria Chan

Meade TelescopeThere are countless telescope manufacturers in the market now, but some companies have been here forever. Celestron and Meade are some companies providing astronomers with new equipment from a long time ago.

First telescopes matter a lot for people who are just getting into astronomy. It is absolutely crucial that you find yourself the most suitable telescope according to your liking to have a good start. Meade or Celestron are the companies most likely to provide you with just the right thing.

However, what to do if you are confused between the both of them? Because most people who just got into astronomy go over a Celestron vs Meade vs Orion phase. Both of them have their own pros and cons so we are here to give you a detailed review of both companies to help you decide better which suits you well.

Celestron vs Meade Major Differences:

Here are some of the major differences in Celestron and Meade Products that make them stand out from one another.

Details Meade Celestron
Established 1972 1964
Manufactured in Taiwan and Irvine, CA Taiwan
Beginner-friendly Yes Yes
Price range $45 – $19,000 $50 – $8,700
Warranty 1-year 2 years to limited lifetime

Celestron vs Meade Telescopes:

Enough about Celestron vs Meade comparisons on the basis of performance and production, let us look at some of the products by both companies. In this way, You can understand better which product will be the best for you and why. We will be looking into beginner, intermediate, and expert-level telescopes manufactured by both Celestron and Meade. This would be the best way to do a Celestron vs Meade telescope review. So let us get into it without any further ado.

Best Meade Telescopes:

Here are the Meade Telescope reviews of some of the finest beginner, intermediate, and expert-level telescopes made by the company.

  • Meade Instruments
  • Meade 8″ f/10 LX90
  • Meade Instruments 1010-90-03

1. Meade Instruments – Infinity 70mm Aperture, Portable Refracting Astronomy Telescope

Meade InfinityWhy we love it:

  • It comes with three different eyepieces
  • You can see the clouds of Jupiter with it
  • It has a focal ratio of f/10
  • This telescope comes with an Audiostar DVD
  • It comes with a great Altazimuth mount
ProsCons
✅High-quality eyepieces❌ It is quite expensive
✅It comes with a 2x Barlow lens❌ It does not come with a warranty
✅It offers great visibility

The Infinity Portable refracting telescope is one of the finest beginner telescopes in the market. It comes with a focal length of 70mm and an aperture of 70mm which makes its focal ratio f/10. You might think that the most you could see with this Meade Telescope is the moon as it is a beginner’s telescope. However, that is not the case and you might be heavily underestimating how good this 70mm Meade Telescope is. You can see the clouds of Jupiter and its four major moons with this telescope.

The Meade Infinity telescopes are specifically designed for viewers who love to watch both astronomical and terrestrial objects. They come equipped with a high-quality Altazimuth mount with a slow-motion control rod to efficiently track celestial objects both days and nights. The Infinity 70mm refracting telescope is shipped with 3 different eyepieces for different magnifications. These eyepieces include one 9mm and 26mm and 2x Barlow lens. The Barlow lens doubles the magnification of any eyepiece so you can see more clearly and more deeply into the night sky.

The red dot viewfinder helps you locate objects that you want to view more easily. It also comes with a bonus Audiostar Suite Astronomy DVD that has information about over 10000 celestial objects. The preassembled stable aluminum tripod is another great feature of this best Meade telescope. We definitely recommend giving it a try if you are a beginner and want to start your astronomical journey with a great telescope.

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2. Meade 8″ f/10 LX90 ACF Telescope with Field Tripod

Meade 8 inchWhy we love it:

  • It has an aperture of 200mm
  • Comes equipped with AFC optics
  • The optics are coated with Ultra-high transmission coatings
  • It eliminates astigmatism in its images
  • It comes with an Audiostar hand controller for easy maneuvering
ProsCons
✅26mm Series 4000 Super Plössl Eyepiece❌ A little tricky to align
✅It comes with a Standard Field Tripod
❌ The manual is a little tricky to understand
✅It has a Max focal length of 2000

The 8″ f/10 LLX90 ACF Telescope is a great intermediate-level telescope manufactured by Meade. This telescope has an exceptional focal length of 2000mm. It has an aperture of 8 inches or 200mm in other words. The beginner telescope that we discussed above has an aperture of 70mm. You can see the rings of Saturn and four of its moons with a 70mm telescope.

Now imagine the depth you will be able to see at with a 200mm telescope. But with increased aperture and increased magnification comes the increased difficulty of operation. This is an intermediate-level telescope and it requires some basic knowledge of telescopes to use it to its full extent and make the most out of it. Even so, it is a great choice for beginners as well if they are willing to spend some learning how to operate this telescope properly.

The Meade 8″ telescope comes equipped with ACF optics coated with Ultra-high transmission coatings. What these two things do is that they show you images with a flatter field and eliminate astigmatism and reduce diffraction spikes. This catadioptric Meade telescope is one of the best Meade telescopes for planetary astrophotography. It comes with an Audiostar hand controller that lets you locate and track objects you want to see in the sky. The Audiostar controller has a database of over 30000 celestial objects and it is really easy to operate as well. However, the Meade telescope manuals are a little tricky to understand and need some level of expertise.

Also, take a look at our article on the finest Dobsonian telescopes. 

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3. Meade Instruments 1010-90-03 LX90-ACF 10-Inch Telescope

Why we love it:

  • It has an exceptional aperture of 10 inches
  • It has a great focal length of 2500mm and a focal ratio of f/10
  • Its optics are coated UHTC coating
  • The eyepiece is one of the best in the market
  • It is great for deep sky astrophotography
ProsCons
✅It has an aperture of 10 inches❌ It is difficult to find its replacement parts
✅Its optics are coated with UHTC❌ Needs a bit of skill to operate
✅It has a Max focal length of 2500
Now as for the expert-level telescopes, Meade has some of the top-selling high-end telescopes. These telescopes are used by the world’s leading astronomers and astrophotographers. The 1010-90-03 LX90-ACF 10-inch telescope is one of those telescopes. It has a 10″ aperture and a focal length of 2500mm. This telescope is your best buy if you want to do professional-level deep-space astrophotography. Its viewing range seems limitless and you can see amazing views of the deep sky.
It also comes with a 26mm series 4000 high-end Plossl eyepiece that offers great magnification with equal to no astigmatism. We will give you a comparative Meade vs Celestron eyepieces review later in the article so that you can understand better how good these eyepieces are. This catadioptric Meade telescopes telescope also comes with an Audiostar hand controller with a speaker inside. This Audiostar controller also has a database of over 30000 celestial objects. The UHTC coating makes sure that enough amount of light is transmitted through the telescope to give you bright and high-contrast images of the deep sky. This telescope is possibly the best telescope we have listed so far in the Meade telescope reviews.
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Best Celestron Telescopes:

We have given you a detailed Celestron telescope review down below so that you can compare Meade Celestron yourself.

1. Celestron – 70mm Travel Scope – Portable Refractor Telescope

Why we love it:

  • It is cheaper as compared to Meade Telescope
  • It is lighter in comparison to the Meade Infinity telescope
  • You can travel with this telescope easily
  • It comes with a one-year warranty
  • It is a great bang for the buck
ProsCons
✅It has quite lightweight and easily portable❌ Not great for professional use
✅Its price is really affordable❌ The eyepieces could be better
✅It comes with a 2-year warranty

Here is Celestron’s best 70mm beginner refracting telescope that is the rival of Meade’s 70mm telescope. Both of these scopes are refracting telescopes and work on the same mechanism. There are some features in the Meade 70mm refracting telescope that excel over Celestron’s 70mm refracting telescope and there are some features in Celestron’s 70mm refracting telescope which excel over Meade’s 70mm telescope. So let us give you a detailed review of their differences.

For starters, Celestron’s 70mm travel scope is lighter as compared to Meade Infinity 70mm telescope. The Celestron scope weighs about 3.3 pounds and the Meade telescope weighs around 7 pounds. That is more than double Celestron’s 70mm travel scope. Secondly, there is a significant difference in the prices of both scopes. That is because of the different quality of materials used in the construction. There is no doubt that the Celestron scope is a great bang for the buck but the overall build quality of the Meade telescope excels.

The Celestron scope comes with 20mm and 10mm eyepieces whereas the Meade telescope comes with 26mm and 9mm telescopes for low and high magnification. If we do a Meade vs Celestron eyepieces comparison in terms of both low and high magnification, the Meade eyepieces are overall a better buy. But you do not have to spend the extra amount of money if you either want a scope you can travel with or if you are a casual astronomer and do it as a hobby.

You might also want to read about the finest telescopes under $1000.

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2. Celestron – NexStar 102SLT Computerized Telescope

Celestron NexStarWhy we love it:

  • It is one of the best intermediate-level telescopes in the market
  • It is compact and easily portable
  • This telescope comes with a two-year warranty
  • The StarAlign setup makes it ready to view in a few minutes
  • You can see deep sky objects in great clarity with it
ProsCons
✅It is compact and portable❌ It needs expert skill to operate it
✅This telescope can give you clear images of Saturn's belts❌ The SkyAlign might be hard to use for some people
✅It offers a database of more than 40,000 stars

The Celestron NexStar 102SLT computerized telescope is an intermediate-level telescope that requires a bit of skill to operate to its fullest. But if you do get the hang of it, you can do wonders with it. It comes with everything you need to take your astronomical journey one step ahead. It is compact and portable so you can easily carry it from terrain to terrain. You can see Saturn rings, Jupiter’s cloud bands, and the moon in bright detail with this telescope.

The Celestron NexStar’s Staralign setup will have you ready to view in a matter of a few minutes. You just need to align three bright objects in the eyepiece and NexStar SLT aligns to the night sky. You will also get a two-year warranty with this telescope so you can buy it without worry in the world. Even if we look at this telescope from the Celestron vs Meade Telescopes point of view, this telescope is a rival to some of the best Meade telescopes.

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1. Origin:

Celestron is a company based in Torrance, California and it was established way back in 1964. Its parent company is Valor electronics which was founded by Tom Johnson. It’s actually quite an interesting story of how Celestron was found. Johnson got into astronomical equipment when he built a 6″ telescope for his son and in 1964, he had established a division of Valor Electronics named “Celestron Pacific” which was later on changed to Celestron.

Meade on the other hand is a company based in Watsonville, California and it was established in 1972 by John Diebel. Meade Instruments or Meade manufactures and distributes equipment like telescopes, binoculars, CCD cameras, Spotting scopes, and telescope accessories. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of telescopes. Meade and Celestron actually have a history together. Celestron almost went out of business in 2001, and its business rival Meade tried to take over the company but a bankruptcy court allowed the company to be run by the same owners.

2. Production:

Celestron is well known for being the first large-scale manufacturer of the revolutionary Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. It introduced its first C8 8″ diameter 2032 focal length, f10 telescope in 1970. Celestron came up with a cheaper and effective way of producing the correcting plates for the Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope and that was the major innovation that they did in their telescopes.

They were able to manufacture uniform correcting plates in an inexpensive manner using a vacuum to pull the glass blanks into a pre-shaped curve mold called a master block. The Celestron Telescope Tubes had a signature orange finish which was later changed to matte black. But in 2006, it was again changed to glossy orange color.

Now as for ease of use, the Celestron Telescopes are ideal for people who already have an idea of operating telescopes. Their telescopes are not really ideal for beginners but are more suitable for people of an intermediary level. However, they do produce some telescopes that they market to be for beginners. Most of their telescopes are also quite pricey so if you are looking for a long-term one-time investment, their products are pretty safe to opt for.

Meade on the other hand makes products that are easy to use and accessible to all kinds of people because of their low prices. These products include binoculars, eyepieces, spotting scopes, telescopes and so much more. Meade produces some of the finest entry-level astronomical equipment but it would be totally wrong to assume that they do not produce high-end tools.

The price of their telescopes ranges from 50$ to $19000 and I am guessing that you can already guess the amount of versatility in their production. Their high-end telescopes with ultra-high transmission coatings and 16-inch focal lengths are used by leading astronomers of the current age. It would be safe to say that Meade will provide you with equipment that will help your progress in your journey of astronomy regardless of how experienced you are.

3. Performance:

As we already discussed that Celestron brought a revolutionary product into the market at a really affordable price. This product was the C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. However, with time, they have also invested heavily in computerized equipment. You can also control your Celestron telescope electronically via your android or iPhone by installing their Sky Portal App. Celestron also has many other new-age features like the NexRemote Hand Controller. Celestron also has software named Starry Nights that is rich with information and details about celestial objects.

We know that Celestron is well known for manufacturing the most pristine quality Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes. But what if I told you that Meade also produces the same type of telescope which is equal to the Celestron EdgeHD 14 inch or even might be better than it in some conditions. Meade definitely does not lag behind in any way when it comes to manufacturing top-notch high-end telescopes. Meade also uses software like Audiostar and SkyCapture to help its customers with their work.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are Celestron telescopes good?

Celestron Telescopes are some of the finest telescopes you could get on the market. They are a little tricky to operate for beginners but once you get the hang of them, you will not find any telescope from any other company to be of your taste.

2. Where are Celestron telescopes made?

Celestron Telescopes are manufactured in Torrence, California.

3. Is Meade better than Celestron?

Both of the companies make exceptional telescopes and it is really hard to tell which one is better. The difference of opinion among people on this topic comes from their own personal choice. There is no valid argument to categorize one company to be better than the other as they have been rivals for years.

4. Are Meade Telescopes made in China?

No, all of the components of Celestron’s scopes are made in China but the telescopes of Meade are still made in Mexico.

5. Meade vs Celestron 8 SCT, which one is better?

It is hard to choose a winner in a Meade vs Celestron 8 SCT comparison because both of them come with almost identical features.

6. Where are Meade telescopes made?

Meade’s telescope components are made in Mexico.

Here is a youtube video to help you decide better on which telescope to buy.

Conclusion:

This concludes our detailed review of Celestron vs Meade Telescopes. It’s true that both of the companies have been business rivals for decades now and they are still pushing each other to become better. They are both exceptionally good companies when it comes to telescopes and astronomical equipment. We hope that the information we provided was helpful to you and the Meade and  Celestron Telescope reviews gave you a better look at the whole Meade vs Celestron telescopes comparison.

Source:

  • A photographic atlas for Meade Celestron SCT and other telescopes. 
  • A user’s guide to Meade Telescopes.

 So what are you waiting for? Go get your favorite Telescope and start your astronomical journey right at this moment.  

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Maria Chan
Maria Chan
Author at Dope Guides
I am a Space enthusiast and have been into deep space research for over 8 years. Inspired by the likes of Mary Robinette Kowal and others to write great content.
Maria Chan
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