Yep, once again all of you have really added some very important points and funny enough I realised that 14" & 16" would be way to unmanageable.
Went to Bintel yesterday and they had a SW 12" Flex Dob, and a 10" & 12" full tube Bintel GSO Dob. Immediately it hit me that anything bigger will be hard to get my telescope in and out of the house on my own.
I have set my sights on their 12" GSO. I was in the shop for nearly 2 hours, the salesperson was very helpful with answering all of my questions. They compared the Bintel GSO with the SW Flex Dob and I have to say the Bintel mount felt better and did not stick or make any noise when moved around, it had a fan and had a right angled finder, and it was cheaper.
They explained in depth about collimation and the different tools to assist in collimation. I found the laser collimator (sp ?) was vey quick and easy. They showed me a number of different angled lens trying to make me understand what they're used for, however with my untrained eye I could just make out the difference.
So, 12" Bintel GSO, standard lens set (can't remember which ones), filters including moon, laser colimator, a 2011 astronomy book with some very helpful data that's eliminates time searching on the internet & stellarium and one of those dial type star charts, all for just under a $1K.
Was I happy with this? Yep. I started this journey wanting to spend $3K and I have $2K to spend on lens
, well not yet anyway. I haven't purchased it yet and have been stewing over the decision to purchase it since yesterday and the little voice in my head says go for it!
I think I may be star gazing tomorrow night. I'll let you know how I go because I bet no doubt I will be seeking further assistance on here and to share my experiences with the wonderful world of astronomy.