Telescope Reviews: Help choosing between the 4se and 5se

I recently found myself in possession of a nice shiny new NexStar 8se, but I quickly came to regret choosing that scope.

- The 8se + Celestron Eyepiece Kit + Powertank kit sucked up basically the entirety of my budget.

- I was given the fantastic book The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, and after reading about all the wonderful eyepieces available I quickly came to regret buying the Eyepiece Kit.

- The powertank was on backorder for the foreseeable future and a very, very long extension cord alleviated the need.

- That accursed book I mentioned showed me the variety of other accessories available, making the total lack of excess budget sting even more.

- I felt foolish as a newcomer to the hobby trying to use this enormous, expensive telescope. Yes, I know, there exist far larger and more expensive telescopes.

- I'm living at home at the moment, and lugging the thing downstairs in two trips plus a third for the eyepieces and other assorted odds and ends quickly became irritating.

So, the 8se is gone now, returned for a refund along with the other components of the kit, and I'm rethinking how I go about doing this. Portability is one of my primary concerns, with versatility tying for first. I've narrowed my choices down to the 5se and the 4se.

The 4se is two hundred dollars cheaper, and those are moneys I could put to great use elsewhere for only an inch less aperture (less when you consider the maksutov's smaller central obstruction). My main, single, overriding objection with it is that I have an f/6.3 focal reducer threaded for SCT's which I am hell-bent on using. For the life of me, I cannot find an SCT thread adapter for the 4se. Even if I did find such an accessory, my question would become one of vignetting. How restricted is the rear…opening on the 4se compared to the 5se? How bad would vignetting be with the use of a focal reducer connecting between the scope and a diagonal? Would vignetting be a problem with two inch diagonals? I'd love to get some of those wonderful wide field, low-magnification eyepieces for big huge views, particularly in conjunction with the focal reducer. This is me trying to get the best of both worlds- a long focal length and a short(er) focal length in one scope.

The 5se… well, I already know the 5se will take the focal reducer thanks to its standard SCT threads. The price jump would be a pain. In any case, I'd also like to know of any vignetting problems on the 5se. Would vignetting be troublesome with two inch diagonals? How competent would the mount be when loaded down with a DSLR and, perhaps someday, a guide scope? I hear some two inch eyepieces are not exactly featherweight either.

People seem to love the 6se, but the large mount puts me off, as does the creeping price. I suffered already from aperture fever. The 5se was my first choice, but a week later I just had to have the 8se, and I already explained how that worked out. I need to be able to carry the whole thing comfortably in one hand without banging it into walls on the way to and from the backyard.

...also, hello everyone! I'm Michael, and I'm new to these here forums. I briefly had a junk scope as a kid, but you all know how that usually goes. Now I'm back for more, looking for good views and looking to get into astrophotography sooner or later. And yes, the skies did turn slate-grey the moment I got my 8se.