8" Newton OTA upgrade: GSO vs Skywatcher Explorer 200PDS

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

Forgive me if this item has been posted before, but I'm divided 50/50 between these scopes.

For visual use on my CG5-GT I plan to upgrade my 6" to a nice 8" newton which is more future proof. I do AP on the 6 inch with guide scope, but in the future I will buy a heavier mount (heq5 or eq6) to accomodate the 8" with all the AP goodies as well. For now though I will choose between these babies:

 GSO is 359 euro without an EP (I dont really care) and has:

-- 94% enhanced reflectivity coatings for a brighter picture

-- Seconcary mirror: 63mm diameter (minor axis)

-- 2" Crayford focuser with 1:10 dual speed transmission

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p49_GSO-200mm-f-5-Newtonian-Parabolic---2--Dual-Speed-Crayford.html

The Skywatcher comes in at 429 euro but shippes with a 28 mm LET eyepiece and has a smaller  58mm secondary mirror and similar focuser.

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3887_Skywatcher-Explorer-200PDS---8--f-5-Newtonian---1-10-MICRO.html

Any thoughts on both brands and quality of the mirros/ focusers?

Cheers!

[laser_jock99]

Not a great deal in it I would have thought at this end of the price range. Both are budget scopes from fairly reputable manufacturers and optically should be of similar quality.

The larger secondary on the GSO might give better illumination on bigger (read DSLR sized) CCD's.

I like the GSO focusers on the scopes I have- although these are all of the mono rail type