I started my astronomical life with an 8" and I think it was a great choice. You can see so many objects with an 8" that you could never see them all in your lifetime. It is also very portable and can fit in the boots of most cars. The only downside of reflectors is that you have to collimate them. This is where you align the mirrors so that they are pointing at each other (A quick search of the forum will find many threads on this topic). However once you have learnt how to do this it takes less than 5 minutes and become a non-issue. I'm sure that Roger at BINTEL in melbourne would be more than happy to show you ho to do this if you by the 8" from him. Welcome to astronomy, an 8" is a great choice