waclark57 wrote:I am curious as to why an iPad would be any harder to point at an object in the sky than this device? Some of the apps I have seen use the camera on the back of the iPad to project the sky image on the screen of the iPad. What am I missing?

Fire up your I-Pad at a star party and you will end up having it surgically removed from your neither regions due to it's ultra bright white back-light.

sdkammer wrote:This looks really cool...and I might actually have been in for one...except..

I'm pretty sure the reason this is so inexpensive is that now, anyone with an Android phone has just about every bit of this functionality (and possibly some things this doesn't do) with the free app "Google Sky". I imagine there's something similar in IOS but I don't know for sure.

Sorry guys...don't get my money today...but you'll get it sooner or later...

Tablets and smart phones bacl lights ruin your night vision. That makes all the "astronomy apps" worthless to actually use for astronomy.

acanarelli wrote:You may be right but I can't see how you can use your Iphone to do the same thing this device does, even with an app. How can you point your phone at an object in the sky and then have your phone tell you what you just pointed at? This device has a functional GPS system within along with an object library for more than 10,000 objects. It automatically knows where on Earth you are standing and exactly what you are pointing at. It will then tell you all you need to know about the object you're viewing. Or you can do it in reverse...ask the device to show you a particular object (let's say M42) and the device will guide to find the target.

My Galaxy Note II knows exactly where I am on earth too, and has Google Sky. Better off investing in a telescope, like they had here yesterday or the day before.

Russ6169 wrote:Can't my iPad do everything that this can do?

Yes there is, it is like a $10 app and works fabulous with a much much bigger screen then this thing seems to have. Can even look down and see what stars are out in China!

qwertinsky wrote:Fire up your I-Pad at a star party and you will end up having it surgically removed from your neither regions due to it's ultra bright white back-light.

Don't iPads have a brightness adjust?

geo8rge wrote:Don't iPads have a brightness adjust?

Does not matter, all white light is forbidden. Because even dim white light will trash your night vision.

Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium for $100 + free shipping
Until 3:30 pm ET (or 100% claimed), Amazon offers the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium, model no. 93970, for $99.99 with free shipping. That's a $5 drop from two days ago and the lowest total price we could find by $2. It uses GPS technology to provide scientific, historical, and mythological information about celestial objects as you view them.

Anybody else get one (or two) of these from Woot and discover (1) they are set for Spanish language and (2) the language cannot be changed (even with a firmware upgrade, according to Celestron)??

Thanks! I'll do that!

Oh, great! Bought this as a present, so will my wife be sorely disappointed (and then really upset) when she opens it on Christmas only to find out that she cannot understand any of the information?

rshigenaka wrote:Oh, great! Bought this as a present, so will my wife be sorely disappointed (and then really upset) when she opens it on Christmas only to find out that she cannot understand any of the information?

As TT noted above, if you have any problems, please mail support!

WalrusAnderson wrote:Anybody else get one (or two) of these from Woot and discover (1) they are set for Spanish language and (2) the language cannot be changed (even with a firmware upgrade, according to Celestron)??

Luckily, I'm not affected, but I'd be curious if anyone actually is affected and if so whether you received one in: Spanish, French, German or Italian.

newtowoot wrote:Luckily, I'm not affected, but I'd be curious if anyone actually is affected and if so whether you received one in: Spanish, French, German or Italian.

Bought 2; both are in Spanish, a lovely romantic language that I don't speak! According to Celestron, even a firmware update cannot change the language - it is what it comes with.

jamesbottomtooth wrote:i remember when i bought it for $400. geez. awesome tool. really better than having a telescope if you're just starting out. helps you learn the sky, helps you find the objects that you can then look at with your binoculars.

Geeez. You could have at least warned us that there are no 64 bit drivers for the thing.

Mine came with Spanish language and a possible mechanical defect. Celestron promptly offered an RMA for replacement, because the language can't be changed.

PemberDucky wrote:that is just silly. all of it.
sorry about that.

did you contact Support yet?

Yes, they gave me a case # and asked me to wait until after last week's Woot-Off and then contact them again. I contacted them after the Woot-Off as instructed - days later, still no response...

Woot was put on my homepage long ago. I'm removing it.
The item is now for sale on Amazon for $110 with free shipping, giving me a total of $5 savings for an item that was DOA when opened by my son on Christmas. Woot doesn't take returns, and I've been unable to get in touch with Celestron despite multiple calls over the last week.
Sorry Woot, you're just not what you used to be.

Genesp wrote:Woot doesn't take returns

This is not true, including on this very item. (Italian menus and documentation here, and I already have a link to my return shipping label.) I'm going to contact Celestron first to see if they'll exchange it for one in English, but the Woot return label is good for a few days if Celestron can't do it either. (The Amazon price is now $140, FWIW.)