Here is what "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" has to say on it. Do You Need a "Go To" Telescope? For the $300-to-$500 cost of a good beginner's scope, should you buy one with the "Go To" capability, such as a Meade ETX-AT or DS-2000 model? They are seductive. Just press a button, and away they go. They make it fun to explore the sky with kids. In the low-cost "Go To" scopes, what you sacrifice is image quality for any object you do find. For the same $300 to $400 that a small 70mm-to-80mm "Go To" telescope costs, you could have any of the following: a larger 90mm-to-105mm Maksutov, a 90mm long-focus refractor, a 130mm Newtonian reflector or a 6-inch (150mm) reflector on a Dobsonian mount. All will shoe brighter, sharper images, provided you do the work to find objects. Star-hopping guides and charts are the low-cost alternative to "Go To" computers. Using them to star-hop across the sky requires that you learn the sky, essential knowledge for cultivatin a long-term love affair with the stars. Debbie