[cliverob (Clive)]

Hi, I've just joined and would like to say hello to everyone. I'm retired and recently moved to far south coast of NSW with dark skies and good ocean views (whales moving south now).
I've been browsing the forums for a few days now and rather overwhelmed at the scale of equipment and technicalities but very impressed with the level of assistance offered by very kind and helpful members.
I started out looking for information on a good telescope for mainly terrestrial viewing but with the ability to do some 'star gazing' as well. I would also like to take photographs (I have a Nikon D50 DSLR).
On my fairly limited reviewing to date a 80ED refractor seems to fit my bill but would appreciate some advice please on this.
I see that currently AOE are offering the AOE80ED 80mm refractor with a Heavy Duty Alt-Azimuth AZ3Tripod for $649. What appears to be a very similar unit is advertised by York Optical (80mm ED Refractor) at $999. I cannot see much difference in the 2 units but may be missing something here. Any assistance would be most helpful. The AOE is about the maximum that I could afford!
Many thanks.