Try looking for a telescope that has a location device (something that helps you locate cirtain areas, constolations, and other celestial bodies), a telescope with multilenses (may allow for deeper and/or brighter seeing), good quality, cheapness, and a "how to use" booklet. And anything else you or other people can think of.

1. Don't overdo it. The maximum magnification you can use is about 180x; anything larger than that and the vibration of the scope and the instability in the air will make the image unusable. Don't fall for the 500x sales pitch. 2. Get a solid stand. 3. A reflector, especially a Schmidt-Cassegrain type, is very compact, and easier to transport than a refractor. 4. 4" is the minimum useful size; 8" is pretty good for recreational observing; and 10" or larger is for the rich and serious.

The most important feature of a scope is the mount. It doesn't matter how nice the optics are if you can't find or track the objects you want to look at. The mount must be solid, and have a fine adjustment mechanism (either manual or electronic). It the mount is manually guided, it should be an equatorial mount to make it easier to track the stars. A computerized mount is a big plus as it will track and help find the stars in the sky. Computerized mounts are often not equatorial types, since the computer takes care of the guiding. This is fine. The second most important feature is the aperture, or diameter of the front (big) lens on the scope. The size of this lens determines how much light is gathered and how dim an object can be seen. Get the biggest aperture you can afford, but not one so big that you'll never use it because it is hard to carry or set up. Big scopes can be VERY heavy, and are VERY expensive. The least important feature is magnification, even though this is how most small scopes are sold. The magnification can be varied in any scope by inserting different size eyepieces. The maximum usable magnification of a scope is about 50x per inch of aperture. And this is only possible under ideal conditions. I almost never use more than 350x in my 12 inch scope. I most often use 125x, even though my scope can theoretically do 600x. The best scope is the one you'll use the most often.