Congrats Crusader, A great telescope. You'll be happy with it, I'm sure.
There is a big following for the NexStar series, especially in the US on Cloudy Nights.
Also, check out
http://www.nexstarsite.com/
I may buy an 8SE in the near future.
The only negitive as a visual scope is that you cannot disengaged the drive and move the OTA by freehand. i.e. no power, no manual observing. But not a big deal.