[firemachine69]

Exactly drake. Let's scale back to my astromomy gear (don't laugh). I had drooled for so long over a jap scope, but the $1400 price tag had always kept me away. Anyways, I eventually fell on a no-name brand "Skywatcher" (if you're familiar, it's a Synta, just a different name), everything seemed an exact chinese copy, for less then half the price. Of course, I rushed, and bought it. Three years later? The gears are stripped to shit, both gear brakes in both axis barely hold anymore, the motor is fubar, the optics have degraded, are out of alignment, and there's no provision for even a professional to fix it. About the only thing that held up was - none surprisingly - the 120 dollar japanese diagonal I purchased as an optional accessory.