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hmmm....my mileage seems to have varied from the norm. I had a 10" SCT (Meade) well collimated and housed outside in my observatory. Somewhere around the same time I had a friends 4" Genesis refractor on loan. Most nights, the Genesis gave a sharper, snappier and more pleasing image than the SCT. Yes, the SCT did resolve clusters a lot better and showed a bit more detail in nebulae, but not as much as we thought it would. I was never over awed about the images in the SCT whereas nearly everytime I look through my ED100, I am very pleased with the sharpness and contrast. Maybe it's a combination of my astigmatism and prescription glasses but I've just always kept coming back to a refractor.
I love the physical format of the SCT/MAK - easy to mount and doesn't suffer from vibration as much as a longer scope. Maybe SCT's have got a lot better than they where when I bought my Meade around '97.
I've had my ED100 probably longer than any other scope I've owned and am really pleased with it but if I was in your position looking for a good planetary scope that could handle some deep sky stuff and stay small and portable, I'd also consider a 150/180 Mak. I recently got a 127 Skymak and it's not far off the ED100 in contrast and sharpness and gives a reasonable size field with a 2" diagonal and 27 Panoptic.
Mind you, C8, ED100, 150/180 Mak - all pretty darn good scopes that would provide years of viewing pleasure and all easy transportable. Can't go too far wrong either way. Since you're going to be saving for a while, see if you can get to Heathcote (ASV dark sky site), Vicsouth or Snake Valley - you're bound to be able to look through a few examples of each. If you want to take a trip up to Ballarat, you're welcome to come up and have a look through my ED100's (they're bino's but you can always close one eye) or 127 Mak.
Cheers - John.
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