First Scope, meade lx90 8"?

Hi

Finally, I have reached the stage in my life where i can afford some of the things ive always wanted. One of these being something i can view the planets and stars through.
I dont know the night sky, but i plan to hopefully learn as i go along, once i have my first telescope.

I'm after something a bit more than a pair of binoculars (i already own some). Something that will give me good crisp clear images of the planets and also be adaptable to astrophotography if I ever want to experiment with that. I want something that will last me a good few years, something future proof to a certain degree. I understand why many people say go get a small telescope, learn your way around the stars and then upgrade later, and i'm sure that must be amazing fun, to come from the ground up. But i dont have the time and basically just want to 'see' amazing things like the craters of the moon, the planets, nebulae and distant galaxies, and be able to show my wife and children the beauty that is up there.
I just have a couple of questions..

1. Does anyone know of any websites that show images through different scopes and give lots of telescope reviews? I'm still searching but if anyone knows of any good sites it would be a great help.
2. Im looking at the Meade Lx90 8" F10 UHTC. This seems to be a good scope for what i want. Whats the general opinion on this and does anyone know of a better choice in this price range? (approx £1600)
3. I'm based in A village called Wheatley, in Oxfordshire, England. Does anyone know of a good UK dealer that keep a good stock of telescopes and have good customer service?

Many thanks for any help or advice

Kind Regards,
Chris and Sarah Plows
www.picturesofengland.com