This is an 80mm telescope ("aperture" or diameter) which is what you should probably be most concerned with when purchasing one. This is the size of the optic (lens or mirror) that gathers the light, and, generally speaking, you want to gather as much light as possible. The design of this telescope's mount also often discourages beginners because it can be difficult to point.
For beginners, I usually recommend a Dobsonian-design telescope. Several manufacturers make these kind (Orion, Meade, Zhumell, etc.) and they're very easy to operate. They're also hard to mess up, i.e. even if something happens to it, often times it's something you can easily repair yourself.
The three main functions of a telescope are (1) to gather as much light as possible, (2) resolve fine details, and (3) magnify. Unfortunately, many people who are new to stargazing fall victim to promises of "high power" because they are unfamiliar with what the telescopes main functions are. When purchasing a telescope, you generally want the largest aperture possible on your budget (although admittedly there are other considerations if you are doing specialized work). The ability to resolve details is also a function of the aperture size so with a larger aperture comes higher resolving power. Magnification depends only on the focal lengths of the primary mirror or lens and that of the eyepiece, having nothing to do with the aperture size (to change the magnification you simply change the eyepiece). Magnification is almost irrelevant because it's changing the *size* of the image; it does NOT impact the *quality* of the image. For example, if the image is fuzzy, magnifying it only makes it a bigger fuzzy image. So to observe fainter objects you want a large aperture telescope.
_Sky & Telescope_ magazine has a good set of resources for beginners including advice on instruments as well as using what you've already got.
Hope this helps. Don't be discouraged - there are plenty of scopes out there that are both ideal for beginners and easy on the budget. Clear skies to you!
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