Handheld binoculars are nice for deep sky viewing, but straight-through binos mounted on a tripod are very uncomfortable when viewing objects higher in the sky. In that case, use binos with 90 degree prisms.
An alternative can be a shorttube refractor suitable for both astronomy and terrestial viewing. It allows powers over 100x suitable for planetary viewing.
Example an 8 cm for $300:
http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx