Hi mate im fairly new to this game as well but would definately recommend the goto dob. I own a Skywatcher 14' goto and its a fantastic setup. a vast improvement from the old manual eq mounted newtonian i had before. Yes its a bit of an expensive step from the manual mount. You could keep an eye on Ebay and the classifieds on this forum. I found mine after patiently checking ebay auctions for the last 7 months. Bit time consuming yes but i eventually ended up with somthing even bigger than i was planning for at my budget of $2000. I had originally been thinking of a nextstar 8' or 10' skywatcher dob. Check out Ushop.com.au I think they had the SW 8' goto dob for just over a thousand. (And no monitors i dont work for them, they have just been very helpfull to me in recent past. I actually sell booze for a living)
hope this helps
