Outstanding telescope, everything works as described, I can't say I discovered a weakness with the scope.

I've been researching affordable telescopes for a couple of years, and finally decided on the Evolution 9.25 as a good combination of price and features.I received the telescope 5 days ago, and have been frustrated from the beginning. First, the inside of the glass at the end of the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) is smudged. So I emailed Celestron tech support and sent them an image of the smudges (photo attached). Their answer is to pack the telescope up and ship it to their Torrance, CA facility. I'm going to be in L.A. next week, so I asked 3 days ago if I could just carry the OTA to their facility -- no response yet.The alignment is what's really been a nightmare. The reviews (including Astronomy magazine, to which I subscribe) said the alignment procedure using the built-in WiFi and the SkyPortal app was a breeze. It sounded great in theory, but I got "Alignment Failed" every time I tried -- several times over two nights with SkyPortal. And I followed the instructions very carefully, including leveling the tripod, locking the azimuth and altitude clutches, and selecting three objects that were far apart in the sky.So tonight, I tried alignment three times with the Nexstar+ Hand Controller, again carefully following the procedures -- same result: "Alignment Failed". I have degrees in electrical and optical engineering, and have been teaching astronomy and space science at the college level for years, so I'm pretty sure I'm not missing anything (except a quality telescope)$2,100 is a lot to spend for a telescope with smudges (that Celestron says they have to correct in their facility, then align the optics; hence the request for return to their facility) and that I can't align after several tries over a couple of hours.I've notified Celestron Tech Support. If I get a satisfactory resolution to these issues, I'll update the review and change the number of stars from one to something else.Update, Feb. 2, 2015: I took the telescope and motor mount into the Celestron facility in Torrance, CA this morning. The two people I dealt with -- Paris at the front desk and Daniel from repair were very friendly, courteous and helpful. Daniel promised to work on the telescope within 24 hours and will ship the repaired items to my home address. I'll provide another update after I receive the scope and attempt another alignment.Update, Feb. 7, 2015: Spoke with Celestron Tech Support by phone yesterday. They're going to replace the telescope and motor mount. They'll have it delivered to their Torrance facility, then do a QC before they ship it to me. The guy on the phone didn't know what the issue is with the original scope and/or motor mount, but I assume if they're providing a replacement, one or both were unfixable. I'll provide another update when I receive the scope and have a chance to test it out.Update, Feb 19, 2015: Celestron sent a new scope, which I received early in the week. I tried twice early in the week to align the scope using SkyPortal; both times I got the "alignment failed" message. I emailed Celestron Tech Support asking for hints; the next day they sent me an email with the following advice: "Do not use Jupiter or Venus. Select three stars only. One East, one West and a third one to make a large triangle. Stay away from stars directly overhead or stars too low in the horizon. Double check you location, time, and date. Select Standard time and the correct Time Zone." So I did that last night, and got the same result: alignment failed. So I connected the hand controller, and alignment worked. So I think it's a problem with the SkyPortal app. I carefully checked the app settings, and can't find a problem. Next time I set up the scope, I'll use SkyPortal's "big brother", SkySafari Pro, which I downloaded and installed on my iPad (it isn't cheap -- $39.99 in the app store). I'll report the results after I try alignment with SkySafari Pro. In the meantime, I'm upgrading my review from one star to three stars. Three stars because it shouldn't be this much of a hassle.Update, Feb. 28, 2015: I was finally able to get the "alignment successful" message by using SkySafari Pro rather than SkyPortal. SkyPortal has a bug where, no matter how I mess with the settings, reverts to the wrong hour. It might have something to do with the fact that I live at the very western edge of the Mountain time zone (within 20 miles). I was able to "force" SkyPortal to the correct time by manually setting the "hours from GMT" setting, but I used SkySafari Pro anyway. I was able to get about an hour of observing time before the clouds rolled in. I'm updating the review to 4 stars.