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Big J, I think you are heading in the right direction with the 10 inch Bintel Dob.
When I started, I began with an SCT. It was a great scope, especially in terms of its go-to function. BUT when comparing with other scopes I was often frustrated with the image quality compared with a newtonian or refractor. An SCT configuration involves four surfaces between the origin and the eyepiece, if you include the corrector plate (front glass) and the diagonal. That definitely impacts upon the quality of the image. So, a 10 inch dob will produce noticably better visual results than a 10 inch SCT.
You can hook up an Argo Navis to a dob, and give it "push-to" functionality. That works really well....gives you a database of 30,000 objects to keep you busy. So, the idea of dobs being "dumb" is not necessarily the case! An argo + digital setting circles will set you back about $900, so it isn't cheap, but is money very well spent.
The eyepieces that come with the Bintel scope will provide a good start for you. They are usually Plossl's which have about a 50 degree field of view, and are fine to start with.
Good luck!
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