I have an ETX and overall I love it. And in this size I think a longer FL mak you don't have to collimate might have advantages over an SCT. And I've never owned a Nexstar, nor had a close look at an SE model. And I'm pretty much a purely visual observer.
But if I was going down this route today, I probably would favour the SE provided it passed muster on close inspection, since it would allow me to use what I assume is a nice goto and tracking mount for a variety of OTHER scopes (short focal length, wide-field 80mm refractor, or a PST solar scope). Rebalancing with a camera on board would be easier, too, I imagine.
However, others might disagree, but personally I believe neither is likely to be great for astrophotography. And a single arm is likely to be less stable, I assume.
JM2cW.
Good luck,
Brian.
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