Celestron Origin "Intelligent home observatory"- is it just me?

[bwana4swahili]

...
What about people who like to explore? Can they be aimed by coordinates? If I wanted to take shots of patches of sky to detect the movements of asteroids is possible? Could I hunt for unnamed double stars? I understand that there will be a slight lag that doesn't occur in visual or when tethered to a computer. I wouldn't want to spend too much for a system that doesn't have those capabilities...

I use Celestron's SkyPortal software with an Evolution mount (essentially the mount being used for the Origin platform). It pretty much covers all of your concerns, i.e.:
- you can GoTo any Ra/Dec location if the location isn't in the software's database.
- with the StarSense Autoguider (an add-on) you can aim the scope at any region of the sky and guide on a star/comet/asteroid in that region
- you can hold the smart phone/tablet up to the sky and identify any of the targets within your view then click on them to point the scope at them
- you can set up the unit in the cold of winter and run it by WiFi from inside the house

One of the main disadvantages of a smart telescope is that you're locked into the focal length, focal ratio and sensor being used by any particular product, i.e: 330mm f/2/2 and a field of view of 76.3x51.3 arcmin for the Origin, 250mm f/5 and 153.6x86.8 arcmin for the Vespera II, etc.

bwa

[Frankskywatcher]

Agree 100% I don’t have any tracking gear or anything like that, I just scan with my eyes and then point to whatever object interests me and I use a sky chart that’s it !

[pakarinen]

I'm wary of Celestron QC based on my experience and others. They're not the company that made my classic C8 40 years ago, but life goes on.

Aside from that, I'm not opposed to robotic scopes and see them as an adjunct to manual / visual observing. I'm not quite to the point of going all EAA yet, but that day might come.

[chris_g]

I'm not quite to the point of going all EAA yet, but that day might come.

I'm not either, but it will it will come for me eventually. And I'm one of those that started integrating the tech in my hobbies back in the 80s

If it's fun and gets you back out under the stars, is it really important how?

Thank you for the reminder.

Clear Skies,
Chris