I'm glad to see Orion still carries the 8x42 Ultraview, which at $149, might end up as my "car bins".
I owned the 10x50 Ultraview, and while the edges would have been fine for birding, they were under par (a good thing in golf but not for stargazing).
I didn't like the plastic armoring, which separated from the housing after only a few nights in cold weather.
At the time, the Ultraviews had fold down rubber eyecups, not sure about the facial fit of the newer twist-up cups, which tend to be rather large in wide field porros.
A long-time favorite missing from the Orion bin line-up is the 8x42 Vista. The armoring was made from fine "Corinthian leather".
Whatever it was, the armoring was soft as a baby's bottom and holding the bins felt like wearing Italian leather gloves. Of course, I would imagine they would show wear more quickly than hard rubber armoring. I think these might have been re-badged Vixen Ultimas.
The new roofs seem like "clones" but most of what Orion sells under its brand name are re-badged clones. So that's nothing new.
I hadn't ordered from Orion in years but oddly last Christmas received a catalog from them. They used to send out catalogs at least three times or four times a year. That had to get expensive for them.
Brock
