[Wavytone]

Mel,

The TS and APM triplets are good (have had 2). Where small refractors excel is imaging - 80mm - 120mm f/7 is definitely a sweet spot.

But for visual, aperture rules. Side-by-side on the same mount, the 130mm triplet I had was soundly beaten on all scores by the 180mm mak I had at the time, which cost ⅓ of the price of the triplet. For example when looking at Saturn the refractor gave a fine view and could handle 280X, but could not show the fainter moons at mag 11-12 whereas the mak showed the moons down to mag 12 and gave more detail on Saturn’s rings, and as for galaxies ... forget the refractor, whereas the 180mm mak was large enough to give a nice view of many galaxies and DSO’s.

IMHO the SW 150-180mm maks are a bargain for sheer convenience, portability and optically very good.

Alternatively a dobsonian or SCT if you want a compact all in one with GOTO.