Hi Troppo,
I'll vote for the Lx200R as well but I own one as well. So my vote might not count
. But when I looked into both I decided on the Meade because of the flatter field optics that the new 'R' model has over the last LX200 series. Also I thought that the giant field tripod that came with the 12 inch was also a bonus. The meade system got my vote then again it is alot dearer than the celestron. Showing some friends the other night the moon and Mars everyone was gob smacked at 500X but the seeing was near perfect the 'R' optics are very sharp but I don't have much experience with optics so I am sure a well collimated 11 inch celestron would have performed equally well for visual use. Tuff decision why don't you buy both
. Good luck you will be happy with either.
Regards Matt.