Hey Jowel,
Me again,
Sheesh, more stuff? OK, here's what I think for this. I'm no expert here, plenty of EXPENSIVE binoculars around which could cost you even MORE than the telescope so be careful.
First, a set of 8 x 50 or even 10 x 50 binoculars are light, good value, easy to hold and can be used easily and quickly if you want to use them for sports, marine, down at the beach, birdwatching. They also are VERY handy for the night sky. Remember, the 9 x 50 finder i described on the scope? Well, a set of 10 x 50 binoculars is basically 2 of these side by side.
You can pick up a set of good quality (read GOOD, not Expensively GREAT) 50mm binos from Andrews (their own brand) for only $99. Now for this money, you could get either:
10 x 50 MARINE grade binos, waterproof, etc - nice features (1.2kg) or
10 x 60 normal ones (1kg) or
12 x 60 normal or 15 x 60 normal.
These are all quite lightweight at around 1-1.2kg. Weight is IMPORTANT when you are holding them as your arms get tired quite quicky if the binos are heavy. But more on that in a bit.
If you want to spend $50 more, you can get 11x70 or 15x70 versions for $149, and these give you more aperture but the same levels of magnification. I personally have a set of 11 x 70 and they are great, although are somewhat heavy even in short bursts as they weigh almost twice as much (1.6kg).
Either of these types, the 10 x 50's (especially the handy waterproof marine ones) , the 60mm ones or even the 70mm ones will be really good to use for the night sky.
If you have a camera tripod, you can use this with a $15 L bracket which holds the binoculars and then allows them to be mounted on the tripod. This is GREAT for longer viewing sessions as they are more stable and saves strain on your arms a LOT.
Lying down sort of helps, but its cold on the ground as well as hard to scan around if you flit from one thing to the next. Also, sitting is OK, but you still sort of need to "prop" against something to stop the shakes (it happens, dont be fooled) and if you get shaky or even try to look at something for a while, you will start to get annoyed with the image jumping around all the time. Hence, the bino L bracket.
Of course, I am talking the budget end of the scale, where a
decent set of binos should cost you around $100-$150 for some quite good and largeish sets. It goes without saying that there are bigger, better and higher quality ones out there (Pentax, Fuji, GIANT, etc etc) but depending on the size and quality, these can even get up as high as $20,000. Seriously.
I am sure Eric (moderator Erick) could offer some good advice on size/quality/budget considerations here as he had an avatar pic of himself a while back with about 4 pairs of binoculars around his neck and therefore I think he is a bit of an afficionado...
Another short story from me, in a nutshell, portable, comfortable and USEABLE are the things to look for in the lower price range. Don't get too carried away coz things can get very expensive. (just like the telescopes and options)
Oh, and by the way, dont go overboard with the magnification, it was explained to me that the exit pupil on my 11x70mm is around 7mm which is optimal for how far the human pupil can expand at night (gets smaller with age) so if you get a 15 x 70 the extra mag may become wasted as you wont be able to take in all the view anyway as you get older. (someone will no doubt either correct me here or explain it better)
If you want my best buy recommendation for the budget you have....go for the 10 x 50 Marine version, nice and light, easy to hold, nitrogen purged (means there is no gunky air inside to degrade the mirrors), good all round performance and waterproof to 1m for 1 hour. If you have kids or perhaps a significant other who wants to take a look, they are not too heavy and like the sound telescope advice, the BEST buy is the equipment you will use the MOST. $99. Bargain.
Cheers
Chris