I'd take any advertising with a grain of salt, especially with regard to when things are available. I know at least one dealer here (admittedly in competition) who regards the current ad as somewhat wishful thinking... time will tell
Guys,
I would remind you that there is a exponential curve of weight, size and usability which says the bigger the scope the more difficult it is to transport, set-up, use and generally there's much less observing ( with amateurs) with big scopes than there is with say 10" sizes.
I speak from my own and others experience with 333 and 450 dobbies!
It's a big extra mouth to feed!!!
My base board is 10Kg, the rocker 18Kg, the mirror 14Kg, the mirror box 18Kg etc etc, all up about 80-85 Kg... it all adds up!!!!!
I have in front of me the may 1999 edition of Sky and Telescope. In the Editorial Leif Robinson ( the Editor no less) predicted ' The ETX/ Autostar concept will go down as the greatest happening in amateur astronomy yet'. pretty gutsy prediction but alas wrong. The greatest thing to happen to our great hobby is Chinese and Taiwanese telescopes at a good price. They might not be the greatest 'scopes in the world but with good optics and great prices they have opened up astronomy to the masses.
I for one am looking forward to the GSO 16" that's a decent sized scope and I bet it's at a decent price.
Got to disagree with that one - the Autostar caused a mighty explosion in astronomical interest. I have many mates who have become involved entirely due to that little box, and of course it's now standard on all higher end Meads. Using the tours, they have learned far more than they would left to their own devices. Best telescopic innovation of the 20th Century easily (digital photography not being a telescopic innovation). Many cheap dobs endup gathering dust after seeing the moon and planets.
Don't get me wrong though - the driving down of prices by GSO et al has been fabulous to us all - how long have we waited for some real competition in the market!
well waiting for the GSO to materialise probably wont happen for a while while Meade have cornered the manufacturer. So the GSO is vapourware, thats why i just bought a Meade 16" lightbridge
somewhere in March. 
