SingAstro

Yeah but he could have gotten oscommerce or something like that to showcase his products better , his pricelist doesn't match what he has on his website. Its not expensive or hard to setup a decent e-commerce site.

I can't be waiting several days for an email response, thats not the way to do business. Anyways i'll be heading down now to Astro Scientific to scope out their prices.

I think we need a solid Astro e-commerce site that contains larger range of beginer level products , $300-500 to get casual people into the hobby. Right now from what i've seen on all the sites , they carry only the $500+ products.

What about this:

www.mcgill.com.sg

The best one so far with a decent inventory is still Astro Bargains, this mcgill carries only 1 Meade telescope and it's $9600 , out of range of most people . The idea for mcgill is there , but inventory is very small , variety too little .

kayheem wrote:What about this:

www.mcgill.com.sg

Yes.. next to Astrobargains, Mcgill is also a wonderful dealer.

Robin, of Mcgill, recommended me my 1st telescope... since then, I have never regretted heeding his advice. Had I gone ahead with my earlier decision, I would not have my wonderful grab-and-go 80mm APO refractor on a sweet mount (the one next to me as shown in my avatar)

Hi simranjits,

You'll have to understand the astronomy has a VERY small market here in Singapore, which explains a little the small pickings and prices. You are right to say it would be nice to have an open store, a great e-commerce site, and a large range of beginner products, but what you have now is already 10 times better than a few years ago; trust me!

Joo Beng is a trusted and good dealer; I'm sure he'll get back to you shortly. He'll take any feedback you have about the website as well. In the meantime go ahead and check out Astroscientific.

Do take your time to shop around carefully. No point jumping into a piece of equipment that you don't know enough about. Make sure that you have observed through a telescope and learnt more before buying.

Perhap you can introduce yourself on another thread? You're welcome to ask other questions you might have as well.

Welcome to Singastro.

Chris

Hi,
For Astro-bargains, he basically can help you get most of the item you can find on the web at a reasonable price.

As for McGill, they got the full range of Sky-Watcher and Vixen products at reasonable price... some Vixen products may be cheaper compare to the US. They just don't list everything on their website, so you just email them or sms robin to get a quote.

Have a nice day.

Ok went to Astro Scientific , have to say it was dissapointing , they only carried Celestron and a few Vixen , thats it. Tried calling Joo Beng , but couldn't get through , no voicemail no ringtone , just blank. Not sure what that means coz even overseas it should redirect to voicemail.

Some (Alot of?) people don't subscribe to the voicemail service.

Anyway, if you're really disappointed with what Singapore has to offer in terms of Astro equipment, you can always order online. There are lots of very successful and impressive e-commerce stores out there which list their whole inventory and more. Since that's your cup of tea, you should go that route.

Alot of local astronomers do their shopping this way.

Jeremy , which store should i look at since , most of the onces i've seen don't seem to singapore , some don't accept non-american credit card as well.

Even no voicemail, it shouldn't be blank , it should have an operator message , unable to contact or whatever. So i was a big wondering whats up. Oh well i'll wait for his reply as well.

Hi,

Ok went to Astro Scientific , have to say it was dissapointing , they only carried Celestron and a few Vixen , thats it.

Err?? They do carry a lots of brand: Celestron, Takahashi, TeleVue, Vixen, Questar, Fujinon and etc. Just that don't expect them to bring in every products in every brand.

Anyway, I think what you should do first is to:
1) determine your budget,
2) what your main observation interest (planet, DSO, wide field & etc),
3) research on what type of equipment best suit your main observation interest, and
4) get an idea of how much does it cost on the internet.

After you done this, then you go around ask for quote from all the vendors.

Have a nice day.