A nice rant.
I am looking do do the same thing as you.
I currently have a GP mount with a SS2000PC carrying a VC200l. This is OK for visual use but is realistically overloaded for photography. I can get 1min exp 50% of the time with the PEC turned on. To guide needs more weight and the mount won't handle it. Money is tight so a G8 or 11 is a bit out of the question. My choices seem to be a new sphinx SXD or a EQ6 and sell my current setup to help pay for it. (any idea what the SS2000PC and a GP mount are worth now?)
I have just read a relatively old review comparing the SS2000 and the sphinx
http://www.groupeastronomiespa.be/SSvsSB_V1.02.doc.pdf that seems to demonstrate that the star book has significantly less functionality to my current controller. I am not sure what improvements have been made to the starbook since the review was written and is seems hard to find this info.
The EQ6 does have less functionality and the quality seems to be much less than the vixen stuff. Would I be disappointed with an EQ6?
A nice simple summary would make this process much easier.
