First telescope

[LoEdge]

Hello everyone, within the next week or two i want to purchase my first telescope, but i am a bit unsure of what to get. I mostly want to observe the moon and planets in our solar system (mars, jupiter) so I'm leaning more towards a refractor. Other than that I'm completely lost on what brand, aperture, focal lengths.... any advice will help at this point. I'd like to spend between 200-300 usd. Thanks for help in advance. 

[nightfisher]

I would suggest a 150, or 200 dobsonian, this will show Luna and planets very well, and as you get more experience will show deep sky objects

[daiwelly]

My vote is for a dob

[RuneK]

Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ newt' or 90AZ would be some of my candidates. The latter is very simple to set up and use. 
Review of the 130EQ: http://startastronomy.blogspot.no/2011/02/celestron-astromaster-130-eq-review.html
The 90AZ is fine for the moon, planets and also for terrestial viewing. But for celestial views only, I would choose the 130EQ as it gathers more light. The 130 EQ is also available with motordrive, but I would'nt bother with that. At last I would perhaps look out for a second hand, but not old  150mm newton on a GEM (German Equatorial Mount like on the 130 EQ). 
Don't spend too much on your first scope. But do spend a lot of time reading and learning the ropes. I suggest you spend som time at "Eyes on the sky" website.

[RuneK]

One more thing; -if you get a newtonian or dobsonian you must invest in a collimation tool. Newt's are very prone to be out of collimation, even new out of the box. But it is very easy to do a collimation, so don't be put off by this "warning". In fact, I wish the popular kits with a couple of eyepieces and a barlow instead contained one eyepiece only and a collimation tool. Magnification does not do any good if the collimation is bad. Not to wonder perhaps, there are many cheap newts for sale if the user is unaware of this?