Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I just got my new SkyScout and decided to update the firmware using the Update utility. What a mistake. After 3 sets of batteries and 3 tries I finally got it to take. The first two attempts ended with a "writing to block" error. After such a failure the unit is dead. Both failures occurred at different points during the updating firmware phase. This was after waiting 15 minutes for the download phase to finish on my 8meg broadband connection. The unit is running on battery through entire process (no AC adapter) and the batteries fade fast. And what a pain to change them! You need a screwdriver and a lot of patience to swap them out. I'm surprised that it only uses 2 AA batteries for such power hungry device. I spoke with Celestron tech support. No help there. By the way, they answered their main phone number with a simple "Hello". I had to confirm that I was actually talking with Celestron. The tech was unfamiliar with the product and needed to talk with someone else. He was supposed to call back in 30 minutes. He never called back. Fortunately I was able to get the unit back running again by myself. With the exception of the battery and update feature the unit seems well engineered and very easy to use. It quickly acquired the GPS satellites and was up and running fast. I love the cool red backlighting and the audio prompts as well. Despite the cool features I just can not recommend this unit at this time. The poor customer support, battery and updating issues seem to indicate that Celestron still needs to do more work before the SkyScout is ready for prime time.