Meade LXD75 Series

I bought the Meade LXD75, my first refractor, a year ago and have had considerable trouble with it. First, the hand controller failed and had to be replaced. Then the right ascension motor went berserk and I shipped the unit back for factory service, which took nearly a month.(Their service department seems overwhelmed, which may indicate problems with Meade's quality control. When it was returned, I found it had not been properly repaired and sent it back again.

When the positioning system works, the scope does provide high quality imaging and has the visual benefits of a refractor, as well as the capacity for polar alignment. The alignment procedure in general is unnecessarily complex, however. Overall, my experience has been quite disappointing. One should likely investigate the Celestron equivalent of this scope. I, for one, am going back to my faithful 10" Dobsonian.