no worries leon and thanks
Hi Alex, you have a 300d why would you want to get a DSI?

laptop are quite cheap these days, ive seen a few around ebay for only a couple of hundred topend ones as well . hmm have u tried a 12v regulated power? got one recently works like a treat. they are about $65 at d1cksmith. sorry to hear about your vehicles. EQ6 seem to work quite well for me. I havent use any other mounts so can't really compare besides an EQ3 but for a decent price, you can't go wrong with an EQ6. I don't do guiding at all even though the EQ6 comes with an autoguider port. My longest exposure i can do is around the 2minute 49sec mark without star trailing. anything longer i tend to see the startails but I guess with the DSI and because of my fast F/4 scope, i wouldn't really need anything too long otherwise it will overexpose and burn out the stars and objects. On another note, the EQ6 has PEC training which i haven't train yet. I know i should as some of my discarded frames i do get star trails
Good luck with the hunt Alex, feel free to ask me anything.