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Welcome Steve. I'd give up the Goto and spend the money on good quality and more aperture. You can get an 8" Dobsonian for little more than $400. You'll have to navigate to the objects yourself using charts but once you get there that telescope will show you a hell of a lot more.
Don't think that 8-10" aperture is small. 8" is the largest Dob that I'd still classify as grab and go (can be carried in piece with ease). 10" is the largest you can use sitting down on an ordinary chair. With a 12" Dob you would do most of your observing standing up or sitting on a tall stool. Any bigger and you'll probably need a step or ladder to view near zenith. So 8-10" is a very good user friendly size in Dobs.
Considering you want to get a large Dob in the future, I would go with the 8" for extra portability, which will come in handy even when you have your monster dob.
But 10" is quite a lot of aperture and you would probably be very content with it for many years to come. And if you want goto you can get an Argonavis (push-to computer) for your dob later on. If you can go to a star party or observing night and compare telescopes for yourself that would be best.
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