Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I would love to get hold of an STV but I can't bring myself to spend that much. I noticed the Bryce one from a distance last year at the star party but stayed clear for fear of seeing, liking it and going out and buying it. The Meade looks interesting. Does it thro up a reasonable image on a laptop screen after a few seconds of integration? How does it compare with the AVA re sensitivity? I read the AVA review S&T Oct'04 when it came out and didn't go for it as I don't want to fuss with video. Is it possible to get the video output presented on a laptop screen? I never really followed that up. I have an old clunker 350Mhz which works fine with my 740 webcam at 5fps and would be happy if it could handle the AVA as well. Cheers David