Lewis , it sounds like you have a lemon on your hands mate , as said here I know lots of happy SW owners .
On the Ioptron sofrware not being good that repiier definatly is talking about the old 8402 , Ioptrons new 8407 is world class , way better than the latest SW, Meade and Celestron offers . I know this as members of the DAG's ( Darwin Astro Group ) all have versions of these and we have compared all 4 .
My IEQ45 still runs the 8406 version and it does not miss a beat , so easy and accurate .
By the wayALT/AZ Mini tower's are NOT the same mount as the EQ IEQ45's , its like comparing apples with oranges .
Brian.