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I had a Celestron CPC1100 for three years and my viewing mate had a Meade 10" (not sure what flavour).
Everyone who saw both (I believe) thatoght the optics on ths Celestron were superior.
I think the Meade weighs a little more, but they are both a bit hefty.
Having said that I found the Celestron very quick and easy to set up (and I am sure the Meade was just as easy, if a little heavier).
However, the 12inch Meade is getting a little too heavy for one person.
If you want to add a wedge, thats a different story.
I was warned off doing that so I never tried, but I hear it is difficult.
The Celestron had very good mirror stability, in that moving the focuser did not move the image out of centre FOV. I understand this is not the case with Meade. And what I have seen confirms this. So much so that they need a "mirror lock" to avoid mirror flop, which is something I never experienced with the CPC1100 (even under high magnification).
One area the Meade does shine in (IMHO) is in the Hand Controller and Menu system. I found the Celestron menu system a little cumbersome and not as easy to navigate as the Meade. But you get used to it.
My money is on the Celestron.
(But maybe I was just lucky)
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