Hi Duncan, and welcome to IIS. You did mention that you're not interested in second hand but looking at your budget I would suggest that maybe you reconsider. The reason why is that you could get some serious bang for buck in that price range. I understand that with second hand you need to know what to look for and as a beginner this may be difficult. However there are a lot of great people on here that would be able to help you with what signs to look for when purchasing used equipment.
The other benefit is that you may be able to get something that will cover both visual and photographic at the entry level killing two birds with one stone. It might save you some money in the long run. Have a look at the IceTrade Classifieds section in this forum to see what I mean.
However if you must go new then I would suggest going with something like an 8 inch Dobsonian (without GoTo). This would be my choice as a beginner if my main use is to be viewing from the backyard. It's within your budget, it's portable enough, can view most things and is easy to setup/use especially for kids. The purpose of this scope is for viewing only and not imaging.
As for comparisons with other types of scopes, I'll let the more experienced on here advise you on their differences.
Happy hunting.
