I'm sure that every newbie and his brother has asked this on this forum, but...

What kind of scope is good for just starting out? (I've been using some borrowed 10x50 binoculars and want to save up for something NICE)...

What do I want to see? In particular, planetary and deep-space objects are a must. The moon and Sun would be pretty cool too, and binary stars as well so... everything!

From what I've been reading, a Newtonian Dob will be the best buy, so in that spirit, I have been getting opinions on a few prospective buys...

I live in a suburban neighborhood, and I have some clear nights, but there's some light pollution of course (The star across from Pegasi Β is just barely visible w/o aid...)

I'm looking at the Orion XT8 8" scope, and the Celestron StarHopper 8 8" scope... or maybe a 10?

But because of the pollution, I want to be able to move it around as well... But I've heard baaaaaad things about similarly priced cadiotropic scopes...

So, in short:

1. Orion or Celestron, aperture being equal, which is better?
2. What is a "Diffraction-limited" or "1/4 wave" scope?
3. How long are these scopes, and would they fit into a mid-size car (my car is about 65 inches wide)
4. What kind of accessories should I pick up? I think that I at least want a Barlow lens, and the Solar and Lunar filters...