Hey All,
The biggest advantage with the 8SE is that its easily transportable. I like its flexability. To set up quickly and it is a quality scope.
The mount is light and tracking is good. The trade off is that its prone to vibration. Even a slight touch of a finger shakes the image. Certainly not for photographic work. Also limited space between the eyepiece and the mount when adjusted to near zenith, means not much can be added.
However I am considering an EQ6 mount for that later. It overcomes all the failings of the single arm mount.
A quality and versatile scope it certainly is with its limitations.
Cheers Marty