Chris,

I think that the LX90 is an ideal begineers scope. There is sufficient
apeture that you can see things and its stable and easy to carry around.
You can do photography with it, but I wouldn't recommend it for long
exposure CCD work. However, it will work good on the planets with a web cam.

As for the GOTO I see far too many people come through our astronomical
society and give up because they can't find anything. After 20 years I gave
up trying to find things and only have telescopes with some form of GOTO or
computer control. Consequently I manage to image all of the Messier objects
in about 18 months. Not everyone agrees with me as some thing that is part
of the fun, finding the objects. Well I am a looker, not a searcher and
therefore for me, GOTO is a must.

A good place to look or post a wanted ad is http://www.ukastroads.co.uk/

Lilian