Hi Martin, I have one of the original EQ8 mounts that I bought in 2012 and it’s still humming away in my observatory and I’m very happy with it. The specs on the EQ8 R look good and has some nice improvements such as internal cable management. There has been one criticism that I have seen which is to do with limitations with the on board USB hub which may have issues supporting USB 3 devices. See link to discussions on the CN forum below. This may not be a concern depending on your equipment configuration but worth noting all the same.
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7...-r-usb-issues/