[glend (Glen)]

First off, I own an ED150, and I bought it last year when TASCO dropped its wholesale price to retailers. Since it was first introduced, I regarded it as over priced, but the parent company in China set the price, and then you have middlemen margin, and something for the retailer as well.. Yes it is long and somewhat heavy, but your getting a 150mm Doublet f8 refractor. What adds significantly to the weight
(Over25kg) of the overall package (double boxed outside) is the large aluminium Coffin that it is now shipped in. This foam lined Coffin is a significant item in itself and would cost you hundreds if you could buy it on its own. Storage of this big box needs consideration.
I suggest you read some of the ED150 threads on the Cloudy Nights Refractor forum, there are several comprehensive reviews, and you can get a good picture of the development and market perception.

As to the price drop, it is certainly not an End of Line run out sale. I suspect that there was a realisation that the market was resisting buying at the RRP and with stock not moving they had to do something. Currently it is priced pretty much where it should have been originally, imho. The standard model is maybe not a great choice considering the Delux model with upgraded rings, dovetail, and the wonderful big Esprit focuser is only a few hundred more. The Delux was RRP priced near $4000, now you can find them for $2400.
I bought mine for observatory mounting on my CGX mount, so weight is not that big a deal, other than moving it occasionally. I keep mine in a Geoptik padded bag when it is not on the mount. Optically it is satisfactory for my purposes, which is mainly EAA these days. If your the sort that is obsessive about glass specs perhaps this is not the scope for you, as Skywatcher has steadfastly refused to disclose the glass type, however, in my experience, with a variety of refractors, it is pretty good, not high end triplet good, but the glass figure is very good in my opinion, with just a hint of colour on very bright stars. The focuser is the strongest I have seen. It is my only scope these days and is a good all rounder, for EAA and visual observation. The reducer will bring your focal ratio to f6,8.
So yeah, the Delux is good value at the present offer price, and you can get good deals on the Reducer/ Corrector as well.
You would need a good mount, and maybe the NEQ6 series is just too low capacity for swinging around this long refractor, especially if imaging gear attached. The CGX is a good match for this scope.
Overall very happy with my Delux, at the price I paid.