3 brands publishing a price in this category
Dobsonian telescopes: brands compared on printed prices
A dobsonian is a newtonian reflector on a simple wooden or plywood mount that swivels and tips, and it is the design that gives the most aperture per dollar on this shelf. The priced instruments here run from $79.95 to $305, and the tabletop models are where most people meet the design.
- $91median printed price of the entry instrument
- $79.95 to $305printed price range across brands
- 3brands with a priced Dobsonian telescopes instrument
Brands with a priced Dobsonian telescopes instrument
| Brand | Entry price | Dobsonian telescopes model | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celestron | $79.95/unit | brand's own page | celestron.com | September 2026 |
| Explore Scientific | $91/unit | brand's own page | explorescientific.com | September 2026 |
| Sky-Watcher | $305/unit | brand's own page | skywatcherusa.com | September 2026 |
A brand appears here when its own live page for a Dobsonian telescopes instrument answered at the linked URL on the date shown, and the figure beside it is what that page printed.
Reading a dobsonian listing
The number in the name, 130, 200, 250, is the aperture in millimetres by the trade's convention, but a listing that does not state the aperture is not stating it, and this index does not fill it in.
A dobsonian mount does not track. The object drifts out of the eyepiece in under a minute at high magnification and you nudge it back, which most people stop noticing within a week.
Collapsible and truss designs pack smaller than solid tubes for the same aperture and cost more for that convenience.
Floor-standing dobsonians above about 200mm are heavy enough that the honest question is whether the tube and the base can be carried separately.
Cite or embed this figure
The median printed price of the entry instrument in each category in Dobsonian telescopes was $91 in September 2026, across 3 verified retailer product pages recorded in TelescopeCompareHQ Telescope Price Index.
Cite as: "TelescopeCompareHQ Telescope Price Index: Dobsonian telescopes", updated 2026-09-09, https://telescopecomparehq.com/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/.
Download the Dobsonian telescopes dataset (CSV), free to reuse with citation.