What kind of telescope should I get for my fiance?

The only alternative to ordering online is to buy at a local telescope store, not a department or sporting good store. If you are lucky enough to havea local telescope store, that's the place to go. Otherwise, buy from a well established online store specializing in telescopes, such as Orion or Astronomics. I've made many purchases for Orion myself, and never had any problems.

The best deal going for around $300 is the Orion SkyQuest XT6:

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Dobsonian-Tele...

Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner's telescopes:

http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telesco...

http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html

For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington's Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).

You'll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Dobsonian-Tele...

http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product....

Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don't buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizat...

I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.

Many people who buy telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley).

I agree with Nyx. Getting someone a pricey gift, especially if it's something to do with their hobby, is fraught with danger. You could take him to a scope shop beforehand, and then actually give it to him on the day, or take him to a good scope shop just before Christmas (make sure you know where a proper telescope shop is; not a camera shop that happens to sell scopes!) and give him a Chrissie card when you get there, made out like a voucher for $300. First idea's better, so you don't get "sold out".

For that money you can get a good Dobsonian-mounted reflector, which are excellent scopes to take to dark sites in the country.

The 6" Orion classic is about the best in your price range.Easy set up and take down with 6" of aperture will give him satisfying views of the night sky.

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Dobsonian-Tele...

You may also want to give him a free gift.Download the free planetarium software stellarium.This will show him whats in the sky real time.You just have to add your location and timezone.

http://stellarium.org/

Enjoy,

Wally