Jeez Jowel!
ANOTHER choice? I thought you were looking at collapsible 8 or 10" ones? AND you want to do Astrophotos too? Man!
Firstly, I currently have a collapsible 12" (cost me $1499) AND a Black Diamond 8" on an HEQ5 pro ($1349) and I would have to say while I still love and use both of them, if I had to pick one which could do visual AND Astrophotography, the 8" HEQ5 is the one. I am still amazed at how much the 8" can pull in compared to the MUCH larger mirror on the 12", BUT the 12" Dob absolutely is mind blowing on globulars (my favourite) where they are not AS stunning on the 8" and you CANT do Astrophotography on a dob
You will NOT have much fun with a manual EQ5, even if it has a tracking motor in RA and for AP, it wont be much good as I have found out in my WOEFUL attempts with my EQ2 and RA motor. The precision even on the EQ5 is just not there. The HEQ5 also has an Guider port AND GOTO, which I am seriously in love with after star hopping with my first two scopes and when you want to "tour" the night sky is sensational fun. The guiding port is a necessity if you want pics longer than 30 seconds without blurring of the stars.
In comparison, with my Canon 1000D on my spanking new HEQ5 combo, I cranked out 3 images within an hour on
the second night I had it.
For portability, the tube comes off and is wrapped in a doona, the mount is collapsed and also wrapped in a doona and fits across the back of the car boot. Setting up is a breeze, whack the tube on the mount and align and off you go. (after polar/drift aligning - roughly for visual and finely for AP)
SO, take it from someone who now has THREE telescopes after thinking his 130mm reflector on an EQ2 could take photos and do for visual (and keeping in mind you said you DONT want to push around a dob), If you are seriously contemplating an
excellent all round telescope that CAN do Astrophotography as well as satisfy your visual needs
FOR A LONG TIME as you will probably run out of patience before you get through ALL of the objects in the goto controller.......
Get an HEQ5 Pro with a Black Diamond 8" tube on it. $1399 I think they cost now at Andrews....
Astonishingly sexy to look at and really has bang for your buck and ticks all your boxes you asked for.
By the time you have eliminated ALL possibilities out there, you will have saved up the extra cash over the cost of the 10" dob and take my word for it, if you have ANY sort of gadget freak lurking inside you, driving an HEQ5 from the controller (something my 10 yr old can do better than me) or by hooking it up to a laptop and clicking the screen and watching the scope whirr and slew around the sky to show you what you want - IS SERIOUSLY COOL!
You WILL need a power tank for powering the scope (mine cost me $40 from Super Cheap Auto) and as Wade said, you can spin the tube around in the rings to get the eyepiece right for visual, its not THAT bad.
Now, be a good boy and stop being paralysed by choice, and listen to the words of wisdom of Uncle Chris and toddle off down to Andrews when you have saved your $1400 and do youself a favour and buy yourself a BD200N on an HEQ5 pro and tell them I sent you.
There's a good chap!
PS. I have attached the pics I took as well as one of the scope itself to show you what I mean.
Cheers
Chris