Thanks for the info guys.

No, I don't plan on grinding my own mirror, I was going to buy one from www.escopes.cc. they have two mirror kits for the same price, one being an f4.5 and the other being an f6.

I know enough to know that more "power" isn't better if you don't have the aperture to let enough light in, but wasn't sure just how big a difference I would notice between the two.

Looks like I'll go with the f4.5 then, everything I've seen regarding Dobs have been between 4.5 adn 6 (usually f5)... I plan to look at the moon and planets from time to time, but I'd like to really get into looking at Messiers, the occasional comets, and the like.

MrPex