Well my 2 bobs worth.
I own the 10 sw and like previously said, its a great set up, as for portability it fits nicely in the back seat of a lancer and room for my 5 year old boy to park his carcass comfortably and the miss's.
The killer with transporting dobs isn't the tube itself as most cars have 1.5m give or take across the back seat. The dob mount on the other hand is a absolute !@#! with the base that is 50cm in diameter and 50-60cm high for the 10", can make it tricky, and for the 12" this is definately bigger, Truss tube or no truss tube.
Recently i brought the eq6 pro, and to be honest it isn't that heavy well no heavier than the 10" dob.
Weights
Eq6 - all up about 15-18kg (in components the head is 11kg ish and the legs 7kg ish)
Dob - Tube 14.3kg mount 11kg
associated stuff 2-3kgs.
I belive that the biggest time consumer out of all of this is setting up the eq mount, though within saying this, it gives the most benifit.
One thing to consider is your location and where you will be using this instrument the most Golden advice is the best scope for you is the scope you will use the most.
Sure a 16" dob WILL BE AWSOME, but its a 2 man job, you cant very well do it yourself unless you have aid's and this adds to the associated stuff list and weights and if you have to trek to get to your viewing spot and do it once a month or less then its going to be heartbreaking all be it rather rewarding event.
As to find things in the metro area where light pollution is bad, you will not get enough stars to star hop even with a big dob (you are still looking though a straw! This is where goto will make your viewing experience expand to no end plus when you get like me and you start having friends over you can set the mount up and it will track and guide (with heaps of room to move and upgrade might i add) so people can just look at it dead center.!
Little ED refractors are good in their own right though for the most of it don't have enough light grab to show DSO detail (don't expect colour our eyes arn't sensitive enough) and only slight colouration of some things and normally in the bluey-Green hue's and generally in 8"+ scopes. Only on clear clear nights where seeing and transparency is up around the 8/9 out of 10 will things like eta carina start turning red/yellow (i have viewed this myself) But its all upto the individuals eyes. if you wear glasses you might have a hard time doing so.
So things to answer for yourself.
-How often do i expect to be going to dark skies
-If i live in the metro, how many stars are visible? light pollution Good/Bad?
-Where am i going with this hobby? think about that one hard, saves you $$$
-Can i eat noodles for another few weeks to get that scope that will be right.
-F# Kind of important high f#(8-12) better planetary scope(better resolution at high end magnification), Low f#(4-6) better dso scope (Lets far more light hit your eye hence faint fuzzies become faint clear fuzzies
)
Thats my opinion and logic and it has worked for me.
feel free to ask any more questions of my setup and what i can/cant do.
