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Hi Darren,
I had much the same thought as you years ago. The problem is the mount.
At the time I settled for an 80mm refractor, then bought a Celstron Delux Slow Motion control and sat it and the telescope atop a Manfrotto tripod. Not the best arrangement, but easy to pick up with one hand and be outside viewing in a couple of minutes. It is still the telescope I used most over the years, particularly in grabbing those half hour cloud breaks we get down here.
Unfortunately, the Celestron unit isn't made anymore, and the equivalent the Orion Slow Motion Control they sell at Bintel just isn't anywhere near as good, as it vibrates a lot more.
Recently I bought an AZ3 mount here, thinking it would be better than my ancient Slow Motion Control/tripod arrangement. Yes, stability wise it was better, but I soon grew annoyed with it, in that one can't raise the telescope's height in a few seconds to make aiming the refractor easier. I was also having trouble tightening the main screw that holds it in position when I had my 100mm refractor attached, or when the screw was tightened, had trouble undoing it. I went back to the more convenient old arrangement.
I have the Bintel Alt-Az mount, which while better than the AZ3 still has the problem of not being able to raise the height quickly, though it's not that big an issue with the shorter tube 150mm MAK I have attached to it now (the AZ3 wouldn't hold that MAK in position).
Anyhow, those are just my experiences - might be useful for you in evaluating the light mounts that are around.
Regards,
Renato
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