Celestron Deluxe Case – NexStar 8 and 9/11 OTAs,black

I purchased this for my Celestron Nexstar Evolution 8. First, as many wonder, it fits the OTA and mount, but just barely. It will cause the sides to bow out a 1/2 inch or so but I have no problems zipping it up. Storage in the top compartment is deep and has two large soft nylon pockets (Velcro flaps seal the pockets) with sewn in soft nylon dividers – 9 total of several different widths – very nice and well thought out. (9″ deep in the top pocket and 7″ deep on the bottom. All compartment openings are 3″ front to back and from side to side there are 4 – 1.5″, 1 – 2.75″, 1 – 3.5″, 3 – 4″ approx). It holds my Laptop nicely with room to spare too. Also very nice. On the backside of the flap that covers this compartment is a large pocket for paper items approximately 11″ wide by 11″ deep – also good for a ultra book laptop computer . A Velcro strip holds in the contents. I do want to go into the quality as this is expensive. First as another reviewer noted; there is nothing here of any exceptional quality- average i’d say -certainly not up to the asking price. I would describe the quality as like an inexpensive luggage carrier found at any discount store. Something of the order of $75.00. Given the custom touches, I’d say this is worth $150.00 and that should give Celestron a reasonable profit margin. The lining is thin and loose and I don’t think it will last long unless extreme care is taken not to snag anything on it. In fact, 30 minutes after this arrived at my door the lining is now damaged. I was arranging one of the pads used to protect the scope and the Velcro used to seal up the lining on this pad accidentally touched the lining. I pulled it loose and frayed the lining. It is made of some soft material about the thickness of a inexpensive T-shirt . The outside is ridged except for the top closure. The outside is covered in nylon and seems like it will hold up to most anything. There is a side and top soft nylon handle that is sewn and riveted. I would not trust either one of the handles to bear the weight of this case with my OTA AND mount inside. If you were just keeping the OTA inside they should be more than strong enough. The extendable ridged handle is average quality but again should hold up with care. The zippers are not YKK and are not branded; they are nylon, light duty zippers. Finally, It is extremely nice looking. So would I recommend this case?, well, I decided on this case for these reasons: One it is designed for a telescope and mount and carries LOTS of accessories – safely (although I won’t put my EPs in this case)- this is the major reason I purchased this. It matches my Celestron telescope – vanity, I know. There is only one other case I could find that is made for this scope and it’s around $500 dollars – crazy, but that one is suitable for shipping your scope, this one is not. My only real disappointment with this case is the lining and possibly the zipper – the wear items. Break the zipper and this becomes near worthless. I can’t say if the zipper is going to hold up as I just got my hands on it. Back to my recommendation…. yes I would recommended it but only because there is really nothing else out there near this price and with these features, but in my opinion, you are not getting your money’s worth. Hopefully this review will give you the detail you need to made an informed decision. I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5 if it were possible. To Celestron: use a larger zipper and upgrade the lining and I think I would gladly recommend this for the current asking price.***UPDATE***I just just completed a 3 week – 4,000 mile road trip around the western states. I took my telescope and it traveled in my 5th wheel trailer the whole time. I took the scope out about 6 times and moved the case around the trailer every couple of days. The scope suffered no damage and the collimation remained spot on even driving over miles of rough dirt roads. I’m very pleased. The case suffered no damage either. To kept any stresses off the scope during travel by releasing the clutches on the alt/alz mount and I placed the scope on it’s side rather than in the upright position. I’m changing my rating to 4 stars, although again, I think this is over-priced.