On a whim, I found that a local Cosco was blowing out the Meade LX 60's for around a hundred dollars. The 6800 based microprocesser runs a neat utility that makes it GOTO any of thousands of stars and objects. Performance is quite decent. Despite having the fast 10", the one I use all the time is the little Meade GOTO!
The reason I mention it is that if you look at my 10" at http://www.gearloose.com/scope.html you will not see the wheels I had to put on the 10" to be able to use it.
The best scope to get is the one you will actually USE!
Dobsonians are cheap and easy to build but highly frustrating if more than one person is there..."LOOK FAST BEFORE IT MOVES OFF THE FIELD!"
They are useless for astrophotography as well.
My neice has an 8" Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain. Easy to use, compact, and with a digital camera can deliver surprising photos, even of Messier objects.
Lurk in the newsgroup sci.astro.amateur for the best group of helpful people and the best advice on what to get. There are as many diverse opinions on the "Best" scope as there are on cars and guns!
Thats right. And thats why I am starting to plan my backyard observatory. Setting up the LX-200 is not bad, its just getting it out there, and then bringing it back in. A small observatory is the ticket. I plan on a roll off roof or a square building about 10X10' with a dome. Thinking about building the dome myself. Gulp!
I have a convenient backyard layout that would allow me to easily wheel any big scope from the house to an unused b-ball court. The skies are DARK in this town; if I had the energy, I could have hi-quality viewing 200+ nights (remember, this is Arizona) a year, and not have to drive miles into the countryside for a decent viewing location.