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Steve,
Why would a dealer and enthusist in high end gear (Peter) know all the ins and outs of the low end entry platform? And if he did don't you think he would have told you?
My views
A EQ5 won't cut it for a 12 inch scope - an EQ 6 will be a basic platform that with tuning and skill will produce results - provided you tune everything and master it - absolutely everything - especial if you're think long focal lenght imaging and lengthy exposures of dim objects - that's your worst case torture test.
You will live and die in your attempts at the harder end of of imaging - by focus, rigitidy of the rails and guide scope, precision of focus during the entire the exposure, Q/E (signal / noise) of the imaging camera, tracking of the mount - if it were easy - monkeys would do it.
Reduce Peter's advice down to modest mounts and large heavy optics means modest focal length targets and as you increase your focal lenght - lower your exposure time (i.e. choose brighter, easier targets) until you're really profficient.
Then there's the whole world of mastering imaging processing...
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