[StarLane]

Hi All

First post in ages. Been a visual observer forever (apart from shooting the moon) and now wanting to get into some widefield astro imaging but not a huge budget as it will be an occasional thing when time permits.

Q) I've read a lot of bad reviews regarding the GTI. My question is, are the newer latest produced copies better than the original re: backlash, tracking dramas???? Anyone purchased recently????

Will be imaging at no more than 200-250mm, and plenty of wide angle DSLR stuff. Not really wanting to go guided and want a simple PORTABLE setup, but if I need to go guided I will I guess. Or, do I get something else? HEQ5 Pro for example, but not so portable and more coin I don't really want to spend.
I want a computerised mount as where I am (most of my shooting will be backyard unless camping) I can't see Octans all year round for polar alignment. Oh, I have a kickarse tripod, Leofoto LN 364C so I won't be using the mediocre Skywatcher GTI one.

Any advise would be much appreciated.