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I just sold my first scope 2 weeks ago which was a 10” Bintel GSO solid tube dob manually operated. A great scope to start off with, had it 2 years and enjoyed nudging around the night sky. It was stored in my garage and pulled out on a flat bed trolley to my obs location 6 metres away. I wouldn’t consider a 10” if your observing at a remote location,it’s a big scope ( but a lot of people do ) An 8” would much easier to handle if it’s being transported away from home.
I now have a Skywatcher 12” GoTo Dob , still stored in the garage and I use a parcel trolley to pull it out and set up.
Both GSO and Sky-Watcher are manufactured in Taiwan / China with a reasonable level of quality and finish.As far as optics go I’d say the Sky-Watcher is a little better than the GSO but the difference is marginal dependant on your eye pieces. I thought my GSO dual focuser was much smoother and a better feel than the Sky-Watcher dual focuser.Skywatcher have recdeveloped, expanded and pushed their products world wide for the past 5 or 6 years especially in the US.They have a great product range across the board now
If your intending to use your first scope at home and away I would recommend either the 8” GSO solid tube or the Skywatcher 8” solid tube dob and if the budget can stretch a bit maybe the 8” Sky-Watcher collapsible GoTo Dob
If your just going to use the scope permanently at home go for the 10” GSO solid tube dob or 10” Skywatcher solid tube dob
My 2 cents worth .......
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