I hesitate to try and write too technical a review because although I have been doing astronomy for quite some time, it's not until recently that I have begun to get serious about it - serious enough that last year I built my own observatory. So, the first thing to say is that this is a BIG scope which needs a serious mount to house it, and without a permenant home (like an observatory) to house it in I think it might be too big and cumbersome to move about and set up on a frequent basis (or even infrequent basis!). I have mine mounted on an SW AZ-EQ6 GT Pro mount (an excellent mount which I can seriously recommend). The scope is long - with a star diagonal and eyepiece fitted it's around 1.4 meters long (that's 4 feet 7 inches in old money!). When fitted with a DSLR and with an appropriate amount of back-focus, the length increases to around 1.5 meters (Almost 5 feet!).
This makes for an impressive-looking scope, and to be superficial for a moment, everyone who comes into the observatory is gob-smacked by it's size. But of course this is the least impressive of its features. The optics are excellent, clear, bright and luminous up to very high magnifications. Being an f8 instrument it is good for both planitary and DSO objects - it looks like you would be able to spot someone walking on the Moon (yes, I know this is not possible), Saturn and Jupiter are wonderful sights, quite the best I have ever had through any previous instrument and DSO's bright, sharp and satisfying.
I wanted a scope that would (within reason) do everything I needed it to do without the necessity to swap intruments - this is exactly that scope. It's hard to see how anyone could be anything other than thrilled with it's performance. After several other attempts to find the right scope (Dobsonian, Newtonian, 120mm refractor and 200mm Classical Cassegrain) I have (with the excellent help of the wonderful team at FLO) found exactly what I wanted.
I am primarily an observer rather than astrophotographer but this scope will do both superbly well. it's not cheap at almost £1,900.00 but it's honestly worth every penny-piece (Oh! and by the way, the amazing aluminium carry-case it comes in will serve perfectly as your final repository when it's your turn to join back in to the great onward cosmological journey!

Peter

This is a very large telescope, a big step up from the 120ED. However it is not as heavy as it looks and is relatively easy to carry about, the most awkward aspect being the length of the thing - sadly the dew cap does not retract. I carry it vertically so as not the bang one end or other on doors, walls, or other obstacles. Fit and finish is standard Skywatcher - a little on the basic side but looks good and perfectly serviceable. I have had no problems with sloppy lens hood or tube rings as experienced by other users. However I did swap out the standard rings and plate for the upgraded set with CNC rings and losmandy plate. I then used the original vixen plate on top as a carry handle and for mounting a guidescope on. I do wish Skywatcher would follow the current trend of incorporating carry handles into their scopes.

Performance wise this scope is very impressive. Virtually no CA that I can see, and for imaging it really excels. I have captured some amazingly sharp lunar images that are on par with Skywatcher's own Skymax 180 Maksutov. For deep sky the 150ED will cover a full frame sensor, either with the matched 0.85x reducer, or at native focal length with a TS Flat 2 flattener. Virtually no colour halos around bright stars and no faffing about with spacing woes. I have a number of 3 and 4 element apo's that don't do as well in this respect.

An EQ6-R will carry it - just, but the EQ6-AZ does a much better job as it's a better designed mount. Just be careful of the scope crashing into the tripod legs as it is very long, especially with imaging equipment hanging off the end !

Bottom line - this is a very impressive telescope that I can highly recommend provided you can cope with the bulk and have a sturdy mount to use it on.

I bought this about 2 years ago before prices shot up and considering the price now it turned out to be a bargain. Refractors are more suited for looking at the moon and planets and Jupiter looked superb in it, very sharp and the moon looked awesome in it. If you can afford it then I would recommend it.

This back ordered scope arrived two days earlier than expected in perfect condition, via DHL. Obviously now it will be cloudy, snow and ice for few days. First Light Optics are pros: this is the second time I buy from them and I am completely happy. The communication was excellent, price was very good too. I will definitely buy again from them. Cannot comment on the scope yet but my expectation is that it will be very good.

Couldn't believe the size of the box that arrived, perfect condition with what can only be described as a coffin sized Aluminium Case inside, I certainly won't be using this for transport, instead i bought a Geoptic padded bag which the scope just fits in snug as a bug, making it so much easier to move around.
Bad start when trying to set the scope up in that the Tube Rings were too big and just rotated on the Scope when fully closed, took a month to sort but all good now thanks to Flo.
Yes this is one big piece of kit but once it is safely held in my Altair Saber mount it's a joy to use.
One negative why did Sky Watcher fit a metallic hard end cap, yes it has some felt on the inside but mine had already taken some of the paint off the Dew Cap, before I got it out of the box, plastic would have been a better option.