Remember that this telescope does have the same frustrating bearing design as the SkyWatcher Classic series and Orion XT-series Plus. At this size, the bearings are really a problem, especially in altitude. The bearings are slightly different in design to account for the azimuth motion, but the altitude motion is exactly the same. And that’s a real shame because what was a minor quibble in the 6 and 8 inchers is becoming a real flaw in the 10 incher and a problem in the 12 incher. I only know about the heritage, 150, I'd not be able to offer a sensible, informed opinion on a telescope I'd not actually used myself for a while, so as the Zhumell is a US brand, I'd suggest the US based Cloudy Nights forum might be a good place to ask your question. You probably already know of it, but this thread on there is huge, and is about a differently badged telescope which is exactly the same as the Heritage 130. The telescope also includes a battery-powered fan, which will cool the mirror. This isn’t a big deal in the 8″ dobs, but it can reduce the acclimation time and get you observing at high resolution faster. The effect is much more pronounced with heavier telescopes–the big ones might take an hour or more to cool down. A full size 6" dob can sit on the ground, and then you can sit in a camping chair to look through it.

Zhumell provides a 1.25” focuser, two 1.25″ 17mm and 10mm eyepieces, a Red Dot Finder and a fair few other manuals and miscellaneous paperwork. These are decent enough for an entry level device however, if you want to get the most capabilities out of the Z114, investing in some more powerful eyepieces or a Barlow lens is a must.I’ve been doing some homework for a Christmas gift. Astronomy is not entirely new to us. We currently camp with a nice 60x spotting scope for day and night use. The Zhumell Z130 is a reflector telescope which means it uses mirrors to gather and focus light. Because of this, it will require more maintenance than a refractor telescope like the Celestron AstroMaster 90EQ. The mirrors will need aligning (known as collimation) and cleaning fairly regularly. There’s virtually nothing on a tripod that is as good a deal as the Zhumell Z130. Tripods and mounts in this price range are cheap and wobbly, and the telescopes put on them are typically cheaper. The real competitors of the Z130 are Dobsonians and other Table-Dobs.

Basically the reason I recommend just the plain old XT6 is because it's the cheapest way to get just the scope, leaving you the most money to get some nicer eyepieces that can give a better viewing experience. Solid-Tube Dobsonians are fairly bulky, heavy things. Telescopes of similar aperture tend to weigh as much or more, but SCTs and Maksutovs are more compact and can sometimes be stored more compactly, especially when travelling. Whatever you put on, you need to be able to walk all the way around it, and you ideally want to be able to sit down anywhere around it. When using it on a regular-height table, the eyepiece is usually too high to look through. When standing, it’s the right height to use, though you’ll have to rotate the tube so the eyepiece is at a comfortable angle. A TV-tray, which would work for smaller tabledobs, is too small to accommodate the broad feet of the Z130. You might also want to look at alternatives if you have a larger budget. Although the Zhumell Z130 is very powerful considering it’s price, if you can spend a hundred dollars or so more, you can invest in a more powerful telescope like the Orion SkyQuest XT6. The SkyQuest is similar to the Zhumell, but quite a bit more powerful. Because part of the beauty of the Dobsonian is its simplicity and ability to be pushed around manually, I will not be touching on the computerized Dobsonians available. Computerization in the imported Dobsonians is never really at the same level of quality as the computerization in dedicated astrophotography mounts–though they are, to be fair, quite a bit cheaper–and in large part, they take out the fun of observing, the thrill of the hunt. Books like “Turn Left At Orion”, star maps, and practice will get you pushing your telescope wherever you want. Dobsonian’s Advantages and Disadvantages

Due to the wave nature of light, all else being equal, the telescope with the largest aperture has the highest resolution, so you can reach higher magnifications. After looking at the Starblast 6 astro on the larger end, I naturally sought out info on the Starblast 4.5 Astro on the smaller end. Again, too small. I wanted a large of a portable table top that I can without it getting in the way and being difficult to handle. Again, this confirmed the Z130 was just right. The PowerSeeker 80EQ is a competent and affordable beginner level device that will provide great visuals for novices getting involved in astronomy.

The Zhumell Z8 is by far the largest telescope on this list but considering how excellent a device it is for the specs it provides, if you have enough room to store it and are willing to stretch your budget a little, you cannot go wrong with investing in this exemplary dobsonian device. The XT6 weighs 34 lbs fully assembled, making it actually the lightest of the commercial 6″ Dobsonian telescopes. If shaving off six pounds over the skywatcher or four pounds over the DT6 makes a difference to you, consider the SkyQuest XT6. Just be careful you don’t bang the focuser on the door when you’re taking the telescope outside. Perfect" collimation is a baseline requirement for a Newtonian system and I like your choice of gear, not outrageous cost and high precision. The tabletop Dobsonian mount is a joy to use, and it is sturdier and more intuitive than any tripod-mounted scope in this price and aperture range. You do have to make sure you know what you’re going to put the telescope on; finding the right surface isn’t trivial. This is not only a great beginner telescope, but something that could last you for a long time. You might want to upgrade to a bigger telescope eventually, but you won’t have to.

The Bad

The aperture of the Zhumell Z130 is 5″ which is very good for the price. Although you can technically use any magnification with any telescope, a good rule of thumb is to go no higher than 40x the aperture in inches. So in the case of the Zhumell Z130, you wouldn’t want to go much higher than 200x magnification. Viewing distant objects will be great too provided you can find eyepieces and a barlow lens that can put to use the Z130’s useable magnification around 200 – 230x. f/4, though, is really unkind to eyepieces. At high powers, you'd better use a Plössl only with a barlow combination just to avoid too much spherical aberration generated by the eyepiece! The various 6” f/8 Dobsonians sold by Orion, Sky-Watcher, and Apertura offer more aperture than the Z130 and don’t require a table, but do have a significantly higher price tag.