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Being a beginner at Astronomy and having this year purchased from multiple suppliers, both low and high cost items, I think that my opinion is going to be mainstream.
If you want to see what is available for your budget, you go to the shops that are the industry benchmark and then compare them with what else is available. (you would be crazy if you didn't shop around)
As far as bleeding someone for knowledge, I don't/didn't have to.
The good members at IIS offer all their experiences and knowledge for free and without favour.
Somewhere between 5 to 10+ years ago, I would have agreed with John but now days there is just so much information available freely that you can access in your own time on the net, you don't need to call anyone on the phone for the same.
As for my purchases, I purchased the low priced item where I could get it the cheapest where quality was not an issue.
As for the high priced item, my criteria was:-
I wanted to have access to the store
To be able to pickup the item myself
Put a face to the name (a bit old school)
Who I chose in the end was mainly from word of mouth from other purchasers offering their experiences.
I also very much believe that spending the extra bucks for an experienced person to ensure that I get the most from the scope from day one is value adding and will help me get what I want out of this hobby from the start
This also should keep me in the hobby and hopefully for the store bring me back as a return customer.
My 2 cents worth any way
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