For right now, I just want something halfway good to observe the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, coming up very soon! I want decent optics, magnification (likely at least 40X to see rings of Saturn clearly), and portability. We live in The HELL A area, where the only things you can see in the night sky are loads of police helicopters, the moon, and a tiny smattering of stars and planets. However, we frequently vacation to cool places (i.e., not anywhere near SoCal), that have very dark skies indeed. I don't want to schelp some huge thing along with us on those road trips, nor do I want something so refined and sensitive that it will be knocked out of alignment after a thousand mile road trip.
I am aware of the differences between refractors, reflectors (have owned and used both in the past) and cadioptrics. Serious hobbyists often buy optical tube assemblies and tripods separately, and many have two or more OTAs they can mount on the same tripod--thus, they can whip out their Norbecker large reflector for deep space objects, and their refractor for planets, the moon, etc. However, I have no interest to get into it to that level now, due to cost, time, and the fact that we live in SoCal.
I am leaning toward a small, relatively inexpensive cadipotric--likely from Celestron or Meade with computerized control, clock drive, etc. Alternatively, I might just go with a small, cheapo 100$ reflector or refractor. I do not expect anything in this price/size range to be suitable for deep-space objects, cool as they are.
The problem now is that my usual vendor --BandH is "Backordered" or "Out of Stock" on nearly everything! I don't buy expensive stuff from Amazon, so I am looking for a good online store specializing in telescopes with someone (preferably not on comission) to answer a few questions.
Any and all advice appreciated!
Thanks