What to buy for decent 4" ota? help!

I need advice on a 4" achro long focal length refractor.

Here's the deal:

I am fortunate enough to be married to a woman who likes looking at stars and we got into the hobby together. I'd like to upgrade to a decent 4" refractor on a GEM so we don't have to fight for our 8" celestron dob. I can't afford an apo and want to find a good quality achromatic unit. Portability isn't as much of an issue for me and long focal length is preferred. I'd like good planetary ability (yeah, apos are best, but long focal lengths are probably fine for me) and a mount that will track reasonably well. i have absolutely no plans to EVER do imaging so 'reasonable' tracking is fine... Assuming i choose to go with a GEM, it seems apparent that the cheapest 'acceptable' mount is a used Vixen GP or SP. 'Nuff said on that.

But as for the OTA, what's a decent scope? I've heard a Vixen 102M is good, not that I've seen one for sale. the standard celestron c4 I hear is a crapshoot unless you get lucky. Stellarvues are a little too short a focal length for what I want. APM only has apos (too $$$) or short chinese stuff. the Meade ED scopes seems to have quality control issues, and I haven't seem many (any?) used, if I could even afford one. I don't know my older refractors well, I live in RI (not exactly the astro capital of the world), and I'm a little stuck.

I've seen GP or SP mounts for under $400 occasionally. That leaves about $600 for a used OTA. Preferably less. possibly another $100 more for an extraordinary deal. Scratches, paint chips, etc are immaterial (we'll probably give this scope to our 2 year old in another 10-12 years; it won't be sold).

Any advice on OTAs, or setups, that I might not have considered?

thanks!

Hi Erik,

I have owned and tried many different types of scopes over the years and can, from experience, tell you that most achromats are inferior to all other types of scopes in terms of the views they provide. The only achros that are truly nice scopes are not Chinese but fairly expensive and large brands like D&G. You will be far better served by a 5" Maksutov than a 4" achro. I have side by side tested an Orion Mak up against a 4" Vixen fluorite and the Mak, although not quite as good, was performing much better than its price would indicate. The achros are not junk by any means but they are, in my experience, not worthwhile when compared to reflectors in their same price category.

Hope This Helps,

Steve