Hi Jared,
I'm a newbie and have been looking around for a decent first scope. In fact I posted a "help me choose" post only a little while back.
I was looking at a 6" dobsonian (have since decided to throw in a little extra cash and go for the 8") for the family for christmas.
In my search for "inexpensive but useful" I found that Astonomy Alive (advertised on the right of your screen) have a 6" dob for $329. Since you mentioned a budget of $300 I thought you might be interested in checking it out.
Good luck with your search for the right scope. It took me months to decide and since I haven't actually ordered one yet there is still time to change my mind a few more times.
Cheers
Cathy