Which Scope

[Starry Skies]

Hi All,
Newbie here :) I'm seriously thinking of buying :P my first scope, up until now I have only used binoculars 10 x 50 and that was for the Planets,now I would like to get into deep sky objects,as I don't know the night sky to well I was thinking of buying a 8" Meade Goto scope,any suggestions or help would be appreciated,pitfalls etc in buying a scope either new or second hand.
Thanks
Matt

[doogal]

Hi and welcome Starry Skies:hi:, do you have a budget in mind for your first scope? i was in your shoes not long ago and made a mistake of buying a "cheap" newtonian on an eq mount from a certain electronics store and for a newbie like me it was a bit of a dissapointing scope as i found it pretty hard to move around the skies. I say forget the goto function as you will be giving up aperture in favour of the goto, but thats just my opinion.

I could only ever reccomend a dobsonian mounted newt as you get more mirror aperture for your $$$ which equals more views for you:thumbsup: plus you will get to know the skies well pushing the thing around manually rather than having a computer goto the object.

Dont worry you will get great advice on here from these great guys,and dont be afraid to ask questions:welcome:

[Starry Skies]

Hi,
Thanks mate for your reply,I forgot to mention that I'm prepared to spend around the $4000 mark also I would still prefer the Goto as I'm not that good in searching for objects (Lazy really ;) ) I know the DOB's are better per buck size wise, but the GOTO's do all that searching for you, I also should have asked is the Meade better than other goto scopes? they seem to have a better name or should I say more popular.
Thanks
Matt