binoculars

If you're thinking of an entry-level scope but can go a few dollars more, the "kit" form of the NexStar 5i that includes the computerised hand control and the tilt-plate wedge tripod is a great place to start. You won't have the mediocre tracking issues you find in the under $500 scopes, and you have classic, well regarded optics in the Celestron "C5" 5" Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube assembly (OTA).

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this scope. It tracks extremely well for a non-worm driven telescope and it is good enough that even in alt-az (non-equatorial mode) you can do short exposure astrophotography. If you utilize its tilt-plate wedge and use the built-in polar alignment routine (on the hand control -- it talks you through polar alignment) you can do even better, taking many good 90 second to 2 minute images. You will have to toss some of them because tracking isn't wholly consistent, but still, we're talking about an under $1000 kit so this is good stuff!

The whole unit can stay put together if you've got the room, which means that a smallish person can carry the whole thing in one hand and be set up in minutes (assuming you've given the scope enough time to reach the outside temperature of course). If you add an external power source -- rechargable 12V DC of at least 7 amp-hours like a "jump start" type battery) and a dew shield straight away, you'll have everything you need for some incredible viewing for a long time. You'll want to add eyepieces so look at the Celestron eyepiece kit as a good starter package.

All you need to do after ordering or before if you're smart, is check out the Yahoo NexStar group to ask for help in learning your new cool toy. And check out the NexStarSite dot com for an "i" series specific alignment guide. You'll need to follow it to get the best GOTOs and tracking.

After that, if you kick yourself because you didn't buy an 8" OTA, don't worry. You can add it later. Ask how on the group and they'll direct you to the hardware you'll need. I regularly swap OTAs on my NexStar 5i.

This isn't a long exposure astrophotography platform (for CCD imaging) but if you are interested in starting somewhere, it isn't half bad. And even if you upgrade later to a more appropriate platform for imaging later, I bet you'll keep this little guy.