As many people have mentioned for DSO type stuff, aperture is king.
On that basis look at the truss style dobs such as the Obsessions, T-scopes, Discovery OR better still look no further than the SDM @
www.sdmtelescopes.com.au
IMO its hard to go past the SDM scopes. Not cheap, but what you get is a very customised, personal scope. Peter Read will go beyond the call to please. The quality is 2nd to none - PERIOD.
Mine is due for completion in Jan09 and by all accounts, its a beauty. I don't think O/S orders would pose a problem.
BTW: if portability is an issue, Peter now makes them in compact form too!
Good luck !
Cheers Norm
PS: dark skies would go a very long way too in getting the most of the night sky.