[Startrek (Martin)]

I’ve owned and used both Skywatcher Goto Dobs and Bintel GSO solid tube dobs ( 8” , 10” and 12” )
Currently have a Skywatcher 12” Goto dob and love it
In my experience with both brands of dobs -
1/ Optics are very similar ( hard to differentiate )
2/ Construction build is of a slightly higher standard in the Bintel GSO dobs
3/ Focuser and adapters are better quality in the Bintel GSO ( extrusions are manufactured better , more solid material and threads and grub screws are more precise ) I find the grub screws in the Skywatcher dobs really poorly machined. The Bintel dual speed focuser I find smoother and more precise especially with fine focus
4/ External and internal paint finishes are about equal
5/ Bintel don’t make a Goto version in their dobs , Skywatcher do and the AZ Alt mode in Synscan is extremely good , very accurate once aligned
6/ Secondary and Primary Collimation screws are slightly better and easier to use in the Bintel GSO ( I’ve never bothered with bobs knobs ) takes me a few minutes to collimate, no big deal
7/ For the price the Skywatcher Goto dobs are hard to beat , excellent value for a complete package

IMHO
I used an 8” and 10” solid tube dob for a year and found it a bit frustrating towards the end trying to Star hop and find objects, although you do learn the night sky quickly. I did waist a lot of time looking at Star maps etc... so I decided to buy a Goto and never looked back. I can plan a nights observing ahead and just slew to each object and go back to them as well.To do that with a standard push nudge dob takes a lot of time and sometimes you never find the object again
My recommendation would be to save up some more money and buy a Skywatcher 8” Goto dob ( around $1900 ) or
If you intend never to bother with or think you will never want to use a Goto in the future, buy the Bintel 8” solid tube dob ( $699.00 )
PS: just remember you can still use the Skywatcher 8” Goto dob as a manual push nudge dob as well , but then that defeats the purpose of Goto which is an exciting , time saving and fun feature, watching your scope slew around to objects and when it stops , take a look , adjust your focus and see your object right there in the FOV !!

My 2 cents .....