[derekt (Derek)]

hi, i'm new to forums as well as to astronomy so please forgive if I make mistakes.
got a xmas present "discover the night sky" that got me interested in buying a telescope. i've done some research and discovered that an 8 to 10 inch dobsonian reflector would fit my budget. I found a skywatcher 10", with a dobsonian mount for about $800, and a skywatcher black diamond 10" without the mount for about the same price. is the black diamond a better instrument?
also, can one of these beasts be mounted on a equatorial mount at a later stage.
collapsable or full tube? I am not worried about saving space and would assume the full tube would be more robust and easier to set up than a collapsable one. is this correct?
hope someone can help me out
thanks
derekt