Industrial Sleek or [Still too Traditional?[(https://www.houzz.com/products/elite-aluminum-wood-double-telescope-prvw-vr~38963571)

I'm not sure what your price range is or how serious you are about astronomy but we've found the sales staff at High Point Scientific to be very helpful. Their products may be too professional for your budget but they might be able to offer suggestions.

http://www.highpointscientific.com/

Am not sure, but you should see the ones our "next door" neighbor, the astrophysicist, has at his house, they're incredible! Ours is much less powerful ( that's an understatement! LOL), and looks like the mundane one you don't want. Have you checked Amazon to just see what's available? There's usually links to other outlets there, as well.

Thanks. Fun2Behere, those are beautiful (and reasonable) options but I feel like they may be too nautical looking for our space. Hoping for something that has a little more edge to it and is not as traditional looking. Maire, thanks I will check out that website and see if there are any good ones. LynnNM, I quickly looked through Amazon but am finding mostly the traditional looking ones. Maybe I need to keep looking? We don't need one that is too powerful -- this is mostly just to see whales and dolphins in the bay, and to occasionally scope out the twentysomething surfers taking off wetsuits on the beach in Malibu ;) j/k

Sorry pip I'm not replying regarding your post but rather your Weim. I too am owned by a weim.

Edited at the bottom, after I read the whole thread where you say you'd like something to look whales, etc. :)

Find an astronomy club in your area. They will help you find a good telescope that will meet your needs. The astronomy club that I belong to has loaner telescopes and, for those interested (and who have the time and patience), we even provide instruction and help in making your own reflector (including grinding, polishing and finishing your own mirror). Surprisingly, these homemade telescopes are often far superior to one that could be purchased. Speaking of commercially manufactured telescopes, many are of horribly inferior qualify. Run quickly away from any that tell you about their great magnifying powers!! You actually do not need a lot of magnification because that only leads to a very narrow field of view, which shakes and vibrates horribly. The things you want to look at only need some magnification, they are larger in the sky than you think, but they are dim. So, what you actually need is light collecting power! You might be able to find a great, used, telescope at an astronomy club auction, sale or swap meet. If you want to buy a telescope, there are a few good manufactures and many bad ones, which produce inferior telescopes. Find someone who knows about telescopes to help guide you in any purchase you make because it's very easy to go wrong. Most astronomy club members love to help people. :) So, start there, if you can. Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazine have ads from some of the good manufacturers (and some bad ones). By the way, the first telescope picture you posted is of a telescope that is one that I would not personally purchase. A bad telescope is something that makes a fair amount of people lose interest in astronomy.

Added after I read the entire thread:

Oh, I just read your whole thread and you want to look at whales and dolphins. Lol, hopefully, you will be enticed to look up at the night sky too. :) I think that what you might need is an excellent pair of binoculars. Plus a stand so they can be held steady while you are looking through them. Not only will you be able to see those whales and dolphins, but you'll also be able, if you want (and I hope you might) to use them to look at many things in the night sky (try it out and you'll be amazed :)) Your local astronomy club could also help you find a great pair of binoculars. Just like telescopes, there are many bad manufacturers of binoculars and some good manufacturers. Again, magnification is only your friend up until a certain point...don't fall for anything that boasts about its great powers of magnification. Amazon and other popular stores are probably not your best bet for buying quality. Sky and Telescope magazine has written some good articles on selecting binoculars, including articles on selecting "giant" binoculars. Here is a link to get you started:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-equipment/binoculars-for-astronomy/

Thanks howmanykitties! That's actually a good idea. I'm interested in astromony, but we don't do a ton of star gazing because we're in Los Angeles and the city lights are quite bright where we are. The telescope/binoculars would be more for daytime viewing of animals in the water and boats going by.

cmm, weims are great! how old is yours? Mine is 9 and he's slowing down but still such a sweet boy.

ETA: "surfer butts" -- LOL fun2behere. So true. Where we used to live was near a surfing town (Pacifica) that had to enact an ordinance with fines about public nudity because it was so common to see surfers stripping down to nothing in parking lots and on the side of the road.

You're welcome :)

Your comment about the bright city lights leads me to say that light pollution is a problem about which I am very passionate! We do a lot of nighttime lighting that isn't needed and a lot of it is unshielded, meaning that it mostly isn't even directed downward or to the areas that we want to light up. We could accomplish a lot towards reducing light pollution by installing lights with shields to direct the light downward and keep it from spreading out from the areas we want to light and also by installing motion detecting lights in certain areas vs lights that stay on all night (this would also save energy, as an added plus). So, I encourage everyone to talk to your local and state officials about shielding street lights and to talk to your friends, neighbors, etc about installing motion detecting security lights vs lights that are always on. :) That way, we can help people see the beauty of our night sky. It's a sad fact that many have never seen the Milky Way and many can only see a few stars in the night sky.

Pip my girl is 10. She is the third weim we have owned but the first we adopted off Craigslist. She was 6 when her family just decided to rehome her. Our gain!

Pipdog, for some reason, seeing surfers stripping down on the side of the road doesn't bother me... ;-D