I swapped my EQ6 legs for a portable pier, purely for convenience (much less tripping over).
The pier is very stable though not
quite as planted as the stock tripod legs.
I weight the feet of the pier with a 75kg chain to ensure ultimate stability, but it's very windy here, so calmer climes would probably need much less, if any.
On the whole I think nice heay steel makes the best tripods.
The heavier the better - forget CF or lightweight Aluminium.
Because of their weight steel 'pods tend to take up less room than an equally specced wooden or Al model, though wood dampens ground-up vibrations a little better than either.
But unless you live close to a major road or a siesmic fault, it tends not to be an issue (actually we've had 3 earthquakes in the last year but they were all on cloudy nights - so no problem
).
FWIW, I think the stock Skywatcher 'pods a very effective and I never had an issue with one.
