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If you want something portable for your stated budget, then you can't go far wrong with the Skywatcher 130 dob for $220-ish. For that price it looks magic, and is super-portable. You are right in that the EQ mounts take a bit of getting used to- plus the cheaper ones are just that, cheap, and not as stable as the dob- and they are nowhere near as portable or quick to set up. The only thing with the little dob is that the eyepiece height is very low, so you would want to sit it on a nice firm table (or rock if you are out camping!).
Sure it would be nice to get a 6", but the increased aperture won't make much that much difference. If you were going for aperture, you would want to go for an 8" or above to get an appreciable difference in brightness.
In terms of eyepieces, I think you would be better off checking out Andrews (or OzScopes if that is where you buy it) and seeing what than can do for you for a stated budget. I have found Andrews to be knowledgable and accommodating- and you can probably haggle a bit. The Celestron kit you mentioned looks a bit dodgy to me- and even the fact that they have "fully coated", not "fully multi-coated" eyepieces (there is a difference!) raises some doubts. You wont often use the filters either. I think you are better off spending a bit more on better quality eyepieces and not worrying about things like filters just yet.
For planetary viewing: there is absolutely nothing wrong with a well made parabolic reflector, and it will take a fair bit of power. You could probably go to 150x or even 200x with that scope on a good night, and that will give you a lot of detail on Jupiter or Saturn.
Good luck with the choices!
- Dean
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