[Draco (Draco)]

Hi all

I have yet again got myself at a fork. I went to Bintel today to have a look at the Orion binoculars esp the mini giant 9x63 which is selling at $299. While there I also checked out the Orion 15x70 Astro selling at $149 and the Orion 20x80 Astro at $219. The sales guy was really nice and very knowledgable. He said that the cheaper binoculars were not as good as the 9x63 mini giant. He also recommended the Orion shorttube 80 selling for $279. He said the shorttube will be much better than the binoculars for jupiters loons, saturns moons and some deep sky objects. I know I will need to get tripod for it and if I get a binocular then will need a tripod for that as well

At this stage I am just starting off and plan to get a meade 12" dob in 6 months so need something portable and not too expensive

I want to look at the moons of jupiter, moons of saturn and deep sky objects (those that can be seen with binoculars).

Which of these will be better for ne? Is the shorttube a good choice over the others?

Thank you in advance