I bought a Skymax 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain reflector with an EQ1 table top mount recently as a travel scope for about £160.
I wanted something to get good views of planets & some Solar astronomy but it is also quite good for deep sky objects if the viewing is good.
The main disapointment with cheaper scopes is the tripod, and most Alt-azimuth mounts shake far too much, which can be annoying enough for you to give up! Goto mounts are much more pricey and probably not worth it unless you want to track objects to photograph.
The other consideration I had was that it was easy to take on holiday and the table top mount is good on any sturdy base such as picnic tables & even bins!
The 90mm will let you see some surface features on Mars & Jupiter as well as the rings of Saturn with a clear sky although the next size up (127mm?) might be better for a stay at home scope, but might be a bit big for the table top mount.
Best advice is get a good equatroial mount & then you can find & follow most objects by hand. The ISS is a bit fast but looks very big when it shoots past!
Hope that helps. Tin hat on....
