First Telescope with £2K Budget

Hi,

I'm about to purchase a first telescope and have considered the Meade LX90.
I've capped my budget at £2K. I have never done astronomy before and just
want to be able to set up in the garden, find some interesting objects to
view with minimum fuss and maybe take some photos with a compact digit
camera if possible (35mm available if no alternative).

My questions a

1. Is the LX90 a good choice and what other choices in this price range are
worth considering? What kind of viewing experience is achievable regarding
planets, galaxies etc with this power of telescope?
2. Is the LX90's GPS option (£169) worth it, what's the impact of not
having it?
3. Is there any other major component that I need to add to my starter pack
in addition to telescope and tripod?
4. Has anyone successfully mounted a compact digital camera (mines a Cannon
S50) onto a telescope and produced worthwhile results?

Many thanks for your advise and comments

Consider the Celestron C8S Goto.

Hi Bloom I had to build my first telescope on a 5 buck budget,but that
was back in 1940. Today I'm thinking of a Schmidt-Cassegrain
catadioptic reflector it seems the tube is more compact(I like that
feature) Just about finished an area(top of an addition) to build a turn
table for it. My main problem is living in Florida. How come no big
telescopes observatories here?? Bert

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message
...
Hi Bloom I had to build my first telescope on a 5 buck budget,but that
was back in 1940. Today I'm thinking of a Schmidt-Cassegrain
catadioptic reflector it seems the tube is more compact(I like that
feature) Just about finished an area(top of an addition) to build a turn
table for it. My main problem is living in Florida. How come no big
telescopes observatories here?? Bert

Have you never heard of Chiefland? While perhaps not an "observatory" per
se, it is certainly home to some large telescopes (like the 36" yard
scope)... and this is, after all, an amateur astronomy NG.