I see that some of the responses so far have been less than helpful.
OK, let's see, a starter scope for under $400.
For maximum aperture per $: 200mm Dobsonian from Andrews. Good general purpose scope; great on planets, many deep sky objects within reach. Will need ongoing maintenance (collimation); needs to cool down before observing when temperature difference between storage and outside > 5 degrees. Will fit across the back seat of a small car, but not in the boot.
For planets: 80-90mm achromat. Better contrast than the reflector; great for planets, open clusters, some of the brighter DSOs; maintenance free (provided you don't drop it!); grab and go, no or almost no cooldown time. Not enough aperture for fainter deep sky objects. Shorter focal length refractors will have worse chromatic abberation (all else being equal), so you'll probably want to go for longer FL. More compact than the Dob; will fit in boot.
For breathtaking wide views of the Milky way: 20x80 binoculars and a sturdy tripod. Can't really go wrong with these, but you are limited to 20x magnification, which is not enough to see detail on the planets. (BTW, Mars, Saturn & Jupiter are the only planets where you can see detail on the surface with any Earth-bound scope.)
Either which way you go, you'll have heaps to look at. Just keep in mind that most places that sell telescopes overcharge for them, and for $400 you are likely to end up with a piece of junk if you don't spend your money wisely. You'll get great value from
Andrews on Dobs and binos, and from
AOE on refractors and binos.
Another couple of points:
I believe the AZ3 mounts with the slow motion controls are quite good and convenient for smaller refractors. The AZ1 and AZ2 mounts are shockers. Stay away from these. EQ mounts can be awkward to use and the inexpensive ones will almost certainly be less sturdy than the simple Dob base, but being able to track with one slow motion knob is very nice when viewing planets at high magnification.
It is not true that small refractors are no good for astronomy, Things like details on the Moon, banding on Jupiter, Saturn's rings, as well as the moons of the gas giants are all clearly visible with my old 60mm refractor. Ditto open clusters and brighter globulars.
Good luck and stay in touch!