Dobsonians give the best value for money of any telescope. You get a large aperture at an affordable price. The design is simple and solid. It consists of a solid tube and a wooden box-like mount. Setting up is as simple as putting the mount on the ground, slotting in the tube and turning the tension knobs. You navigate the night sky by moving the scope left and right, up and down, by hand. This is simple and intuitive for beginners when compared with more complicated mounts. 

The 12 inch (303mm) primary mirror collects more than twice as much light as an 8". Images are bright. Planetary nebulae will be full of details that cannot be seen in smaller scopes. Galaxies will reveal their spiral arms. Planets and the moon can be viewed in stunning detail. The limit on what you can see will not be the telescope, it will be the observing conditions. 

GSO mirrors are made from optical quality BK7 glass and are limited only by diffraction, which means they achieve the theoretical maximum resolution possible for the size of the mirror. They are machined and polished to better than 1/12 wavelength, sometimes 1/16 wavelength, which is considerably better than the industry norm.  

The mount has a brake/tension system that makes it easy to keep the scope in balance, for example when changing eyepieces. Roller bearings allow for precise pointing and tracking. 

It comes with several extras, including a Crayford focuser for extra smooth focussing with no spring-back, an 8x50 finder scope and two eyepieces. It is ready to use out of the box.