Both telescopes are 'Dobsonian' types. The adds for these two telescopes in Sky and Telescope suggest that the less expensive Orion DS explorer comes with a 25 mm Plossl eyepiece and a 5x finder telescope. The more expensive Meade StarFinder does not have a finder, and sports a 'MA25mm' eyepiece. Assuming that the quality of the pyrex mirrors are the same, I vote for the Orion 8-inch F/6 as the better buy for $419 compared to Meade's $460.00. Make certain you check the quality of the mirror. Meade says their's is 'Grade-A, fine-annealed Pyrex'. Orion says nothing, but with a Plossl eyepiece it must surely be adequate or they would not be using such a high-quality eyepiece, which would easily show any glaring problems in mirror quality. There is my 'professional' opinion for what it is worth!