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Hi Jimmy:
I have had an ETX 70 for some time now and love it. Its now become available (from time to time) at the Meade eBay store in the US for US $129 (refurbished) so I dont know if Australian prices have come down..at one time Camera House and so on wanted something like a 100% premium over the US street prices.
I use it quite a lot for imaging and have posted a few images on this forum as well as on Cloudy Nights (in the ETX forum), and you can get some idea of what can be achieved with a modified for long exposure webcam such as the Atik 1 C and this scope. (the picture of the Triffid nebula that you see on the left was taken with this scope)
(Remember though that the modified webcam , plus laptop plus software etc can cost considerably more than the ETX 70 itself.)
The scope is highly portable, is easy enough to use and great fun. The GoTo feature is great for finding stuff. Optics are great. If you take it out to a dark site you will be very impressed with what this little scope can show you.
On the other hand:
it was expensive here in Oz-you may get much greater (visual) bang for your buck with an 8 inch dob.
the Meade supplied tripod was designed and made in hell. Lasted one session before the clips broke. Not uncommon I hear. Had to make my own.
The focus knob on the ETX is a real pain on the butt.
The tracking is fine for visual work but usually good enough only for 10 to 15 second images.
And don't forget it is only a short tube achromat -so the images you see -though sharply defined thanks to top class optics-will be tiny.
It consumes batteries at an alarming rate -but you can make your own power supply. (should you decide to buy this scope I can give you the Dick Smith part numbers so you can make your own. You have to be careful though, plenty of peole have fried their ETX by stuffing up the connections..there is no protection in the circuitry)
My overall feeling-its the greatest second scope-take anywhere, fun , can use for low cost imaging. However, all things considered, If I were only to buy the one scope I'd still get an 8 inch dob-unless I was certain that I was going to be doing more imaging than visual observing.
hope this helps and doesnt confuse you further..feel free if have any questions
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