I tried to post a response just now an buggered it up.
First some questions –
What do you want to observe with this scope, Lunar and planetary stuff mostly or are you looking at Deep Sky observation, galaxies nebulae etc
Whats the driver for a reflector and have you done any research into the types of reflector on the market – Newtoian, Schmit Cassegrain, Maksutov. The small good quality reflectors tend to be Maksutov’s and don’t come cheap
Do you understand the relative merits of each type of scope, reflector vs refractor?
Finally whats the budget.
Assuming I were to be using the scope mostly for Lunar and Planetary observation and I were buying a 5 inch scope I’d be inclined to buy a better quality refractor for the same money as the reflector.
Why – what you see, and the resolution of what you see, is all about the light you collect and the light that gets to the eyepice. In any reflecting telescope there are secondary mirrors that cut down the total light reaching the eyepiece.
With a refractor you have a straight through light path, no secondary mirrors. In respect of straight light gathering and resolving capability a 5 inch aperture refractor gives higher performance, and almost certainly has better optics, than a reflector of the same aperture.
Decent scope manufacturers – Celestron, Meade, Orion Optics
I’ve got 2 Celestron’s a 6 inch refractor and a 9.25inch reflector
Happy to waffle more about motor drives and guiding if that would help