Hey Shane,
Welcome aboard matey... you're certainly in the right spot.
I was in your shoes just a few months ago and just ordered my first scope two days ago (no, it's not here yet
). I can give you some advice from one newbie to another...
First... well, you've done it already... join IIS and listen to what these guys (and girls) have to say. Trawl through the beginners forum, the projects form, the equipment forum... aw, bugger it, go throught them all...
There's a weath of information. In particular, my favourite article:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ead.php?t=5953.
And second, join a club or catch up with other IIS members in your area. Being able to try different scopes made it much easier to appreciate what I was getting into.
Personally, I followed the standard advice and bought binoculars first. If nothing else, that satissfied me enough that I could put off the urge to rush down to K-Mart and buy that reasonably-priced, but totally useless, Tasco on special. I ended up purchasing an 8" GSO Dob from Andrews. I wanted a 12" (actually I wanted a 20") but had to keep to my budget.
I was just out with the IIS crew at Cambroon last night and the knowledge you can get from these guys just makes this hobby even more exciting. But I'll warn you... and Gargoyle_Steve summed it up best last night:
"Amateur astronomy is like those diagrams physicists use to show how black holes warp the fabric of space. You know, there's this flat plane with a deep hole in the middle that drops into infinity... you're standing on the edge of that hole and about to get sucked in"
Have fun matey!