Hi G.J.Shepherd
Welcome to Ice In Space
I'd go for the biggest aperture you can aford. The only difference that I know
of in the scopes you have mentioned is the packaging. The mirrors in both
bands are made by Guan Sheng. Whether Meade does their own mirror
coatings I'm not sure, but essentualy they're the same optics. If it were me,
I'd go for the 12" GS for more aperture. If you like the truss look of the
Meade go for that. There are some mod's you can do to improve both scopes.
Some of those you'll find on this site (I think) if you search around a bit. Or
you can sign up to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/telescopes/ where you'll
find out about the mods on both of the scopes you have mentioned.
regards,CS