Yeah look it's like anything...there is always "more, better", and the Evolution mount looks really nice
But I've been using my 8SE for over 10 years and it works great. Never lets me down. It's light - even with the 8" OTA onboard, I can carry it out in one piece, plonk it down and power it up. I've been working on a CPC too, but that's MUCH bigger and heavier.
Regarding the OP's question about additional controls...there is also the Celestron Sky Portal Wifi adapter (+ app), which does a similar thing to an external planetarium app, requires no PC, but it does require a smartphone/tablet to run the app on.
Hooking up the mount for computer control is pretty straightforward - depending on which hand controller you have. Mine is old, so has the 4-pin serial port on the bottom of it. So I use a serial cable and connect that to a serial to USB converter for PC control. The most recent Nexstar+ hand controllers have a USB port on the bottom of the hand controller for direct connection.