I would reiterate Ed's advice to at least attend a star party or two and perhaps join an astronomy club before buying any 'scope. When I was active in the club located about an hour from here, I would coordinate with a couple of other members and we'd all bring our 'scopes so that people attending the meetings could look through them after the meetings. These were not publicized "star parties", but hands-on experience for guests or new members to show them what to expect if they bought a telescope. I have a 6" Apochromatic refractor, and my finder scope is a 3" Apochromatic refractor, so that gave people two apertures in high quality refractors to compare. Another member who didn't mind bringing his rig had a 10" Newtonian, and yet another had a Celestron C-8 (Schmidt-Newtonian design). All designs have their strengths and their weaknesses, and our guests got to see them after the meetings. How much room do you need to transport the 'scope and mount? How much time does it take to set it up? How much time does it take to thermally stabilize for steadier views? And perhaps most important of all for a beginning amateur, how much does this stuff cost?
With a fairly large refractor, I easily had the most expensive optical tube assembly in the club, with a VERY massive mount and tripod. Nobody should jump in at this level. The guy with the Newtonian had a Meade on a German Equatorial mount, and that 10" scope pulled in a lot of light, though the primary was not of the best quality. Still with today's computer-controlled figuring, mirrors are getting a lot better, and simple Dobsonian mounts drive the price down to a minimum. He had a van with side-doors, like you would see a plumber or other craftsman use to transport their tools and supplies. Somewhere in the middle (quality-wise) was my friend and frequent observing partner with the C-8. His 'scope was far less expensive than mine, and the images were nowhere near as good, BUT the C-8 is a very compact scope, and not much trouble to set up. His was a fork-mount with a tripod and wedge. He showed up in a compact car, usually. I had to use my Nissan Pathfinder with the back seat folded down to transport my set-up. Very instructive, when people thought to ask the questions. If your 'scope is not small enough or light enough for you to handle it under adverse conditions (cold nights when the footing is icy, and you are bundled up like the Michelin man) you will not use it and your money will have been wasted.
