It is all a level of sacrifice to some extent. Going with smaller pixels on a small refractor increased resolution at the sacrifice of needing more exposure time to get to the same depth.
A larger telescope with larger pixels will allow the same level of resolution but in a significantly shorter time.
http://www.astrobin.com/full/284376/0/?real=&mod=
This is a drizzled tight crop of ETA Carina with a fast 5" and small pixels. Resolution wise, I am basically at my seeing limit and although a bit less portable than a 4", still very portable.