They might be a bit blobby stars, but for 5 min exposures I personally probably wouldn't complain too much if I got those results.
I find the oag to be good once I get it setup right. I'm not sure if it's because I use a DSLR or not, but I have to take the ST-i off before I can take the DSLR on/off (it physically obstructs). The most annoying bit is getting the right position for the ST-i on the stalk to ensure focus (or close to it for PHD2 to work). I'm getting better at guessing the right distance now though, assuming I have everything else set up correctly.
I do have difficulties getting guide stars sometime (especially from my backyard), but as I refine things I improve my chances. For example, I normally use 1 sec exposures for guiding, however I've recently been experimenting with 2 or 2.5 sec instead. More exposure means more chances of a useable star.
I can't compare this oag setup to anything else (other than no guiding), as I went straight to this for my first guiding setup.
Shame about the software problems. Do you have a win 7 machine you could try it on instead?
