Robert, I love your post
Funny as f.... and quite true!
Anyway, go for it, pull the trigger on this 8" mak. It's not because it's not massively expensive that it isn't good. I went down that road, came back from it, and the result is that I simply LOVE my 180mm Skywatcher-chinese-made MAK. It's a great great scope, and you'll get lots of enjoyment out of it. It's a killer on planets, use it with a wide angle eyepiece and DSO are VERY accessible. Seriously, awesome value for money, you won't regret it.
Cheers
Sylvain