Ah, collimation... that old chestnut. I think the collimation is pretty good but I can never get it 100%. The primary mirror has an annulus to aid collimation but I can't ever line it up exactly. It's pretty close, but I'm guessing that's not good enough?
Magnifaction - well, I've never tried anything above 200x. That's mainly because I read that 150x was the maximum clear magnification I could ever expect to use (except in excellent conditions) for my size scope. Might have to try and push the mag up a bit on the weekend.
Thanks for the input all, much appreciated.