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Updating your firmware is a great idea for a lot of reasons. Firmware in telescopes is complex, and it is not unusual for critical bugs to be fixed which affect day-to-day GOTO operation. Many people who assume their scope (or their knowledge) is lacking, discover that they have been battling some firmware bug that just happens to intersect with their usage patterns.
However, upgrading firmware is not without its risks.
First, DON'T upgrade your firmware unless:
1. You are reasonably technical and detail-oriented. There are a lot of minor details that, if you miss them, you can cause permanent damage. The worst part is that the Telescope manufacturers often do not provide information that is consistent or easy to understand. For example, upgrading a Celestron SE series requires that you know the difference between a NexStar+ hand control, and a regular NexStar hand control (it is not obvious, nor are they labelled clearly). Also, the firmware itself does not have good labelling, so the telescope will happily upload firmware for an entirely different model! There are also many different programs available, sometimes several from a single manufacturer (Celestron has 3 different ones for the same telescope, and you have to figure out which one to use). All in all, the biggest thing you need to do is protect yourself from the insufficient and often ambiguous information provided by manufacturers.
2. You can find an article on the web for your EXACT model (or as close as possible) that allows you to see what other people's experiences have been. Sadly, some manufacturers release software that makes it easy to brick your device. It is worth spending a few hours surfing the web, collecting experiences from others instead of shipping your unit back to the factory to be re-programmed.
All in all, you need to use caution.
One thing you may want to do if you aren't a computer whiz, is find a friend who is, and have a "firmware upgrade party". Even if they know nothing about telescopes, computer people often have to upgrade firmware on motherboards, and the issues are surprisingly similar and the software is similar as well. Two heads are better than one.
I have upgraded firmware on many many devices from computers to telescopes to phones and even industrial machines. The experience varies widely. Out of maybe 300 or 400 such upgrades I have done, I have had only one or two tragic experiences. I'm amazed it hasn't been more, since I've had several close calls where the equipment appeared "bricked" but I found a way to get things running again.
So, in short, the warnings you've heard are true. But, learning to successfully upgrade your firmware for your particular unit does have benefits, so it's worth considering.
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