I only recently purchased a scope and I am still a relative n00b, and I am going to inform you of my mistakes and so that you might learn from them and save a bit of cash in the process! I wanted to get into astronomy properly and had to get a scope. i was advised to get a decent set of binos first but i had to get a scope, so i got the biggest i could afford, a 6" celestron SCT without GOTO. Although i am now completely happy with the scope, it was a mistake. having no car meant that i could not travel to dark sites as the scope isnt very portable, also as it has quite a narrow field of view it is impossible to learn your way around the sky with it. soon after, very dishartened i purchased a set of bressier binos from lidl for 18 euros, practically nothing and they are the single greatest investment i have ever made. you can see considerably more sky through them so its much easier to learn your way around, and you can see some stunning images, in particular the orion nebula and saturn( im still convinced i could see the rings after a lot of observation through the binos) and of course the pliades. once i was a bit more familiar with the sky, i went back to the scope and am much more comfortable with it. I still would have been better off with a small refractor i could carry to a dark site,but hey, what can you do! so to learn from my mistakes you should:
1. get good binos. nothing too big as even when using small ones, your arms get tired. even get a cheap camera tripod and a fitting to hold the binos onto it.
2. get a decent book on astronomy with a map of the sky, and details on the best objects to view with binos.
3. Join your local club, and try to get a look at as many scopes as possible. you dont give any details as to your expirience/knowledge level or what you think you want, so this would be the best way to find out and this way you will have first hand expirience with many types and you will better know what suits your needs. as you see in my case, bigger was not better.
4. once you get a scope, get a telrad finder. anyone who has had trouble navigating the sky will testify that a telrad is one of the greatest inventions to aid beginner astronomers find objects.
5. Ask questions, lots of questions. this site is the best astronomy site i have found as its members are all local(relatively speaking), and no matter how basic or silly you think your question is, everyone here will do their best to help you.
Best of luck in your purchase and let us know what you end up getting.
  