Hi Prova, welcome to IceInSpace!
The 8" newt is tonnes better than the small 5" newt you received as a gift. It's a blessing that it was faulty
Forum member "ving" has an 8" scope on an EQ mount, and he loves it. It's great for both visual, and basic astrophotography if you want to get into that in future.
EQ mounts can be quite tricky to come to terms with in the beginning, and with a newt, the eyepiece can end up in weird positions depending on where the scope is pointing so you may need a step ladder, and you may at times need to rotate the scope in its rings to get the eyepiece into a more comfortable viewing position.
You'll also need things like:
a) comfortable observing chair
b) planisphere/star chart
c) red light torch
I'm sure you'll get some eyepieces with the scope which will get you by for a while, but in future it's likely you'll want to expand your eyepiece collection to include more focal lengths, or replace them with high quality eyepieces (they do make a significant difference).
I look forward to hearing your experiences and don't forget to keep asking questions!
