Five hundred dollars is the point on this shelf where you choose between two philosophies: put the money into glass, or put it into motors. Both are defensible and they suit different people, and the printed figures in this index show the fork clearly.
The aperture route
Around three hundred dollars buys a 130mm tabletop dobsonian in this index; a few hundred more buys a 200mm floor-standing one, which gathers about two and a half times as much light again. That is the largest jump in capability available anywhere on this shelf for the money, and it is why experienced observers keep recommending it.
The tracking route
The same money buys a smaller instrument on a computerised mount that finds objects and follows them. What you gain is finding things you could not find yourself and keeping them in the eyepiece; what you lose is aperture, which is what actually makes faint things visible. For someone whose obstacle is finding objects rather than seeing them, it is a fair trade.
Where the middle goes wrong
The failure mode at this price is buying both halves badly: a modest aperture on a motorised mount that eats the budget, leaving an instrument that finds faint objects it cannot show you. If the budget will not stretch to a decent aperture and decent tracking, buy the aperture and learn the sky, which costs nothing.
Questions people ask about telescope
What is the best telescope under five hundred dollars?
For visual observing, the largest dobsonian the budget reaches. The printed figures here start at $305.00 for a 130mm tabletop, and floor-standing 150mm and 200mm instruments sit within five hundred at most retailers.
Is a goto telescope worth it under five hundred?
Only if finding objects is your actual obstacle. At this price the motors are paid for out of the aperture budget, and aperture is what decides how much there is to find.
What about under three hundred?
The 130mm tabletop dobsonian at $305.00 is right at the edge of it, and below that the choices in this index are the 114mm reflector at $91.00 on sale and the 76mm at $79.95.