The Tasco scope looks pretty good. I recognize the mount and 114mm aperture will show more than your binoculars. The main "problem" with it will be that 3x Barlow and the 4mm eyepiece. The low and high power eyepieces are good choices, but the super high power of the 4mm is only good for the moon on very, very stable nights. And the 3x Barlow will probably only work well with the 25mm (low power) eyepiece.

The problem with high and super high power with this scope is the mount. High power magnifies everything: air turbulence, scope misalignment, vibration when focusing, vibration from wind, vibration when moving to track the sky, ...

Your friend's advice is fair, but not using your scope because you think there might be some degradation means you won't see anything. The moon has thousands of craters and each one is different while Jupiter and Saturn are visible for about half the year no matter the street lights your're under.

It is very common now days to make 15 to 60 mile trips away from the city for star gazing. It takes about that much distance to get out where you can see enough of the stars to find the galaxies, nebulas, and clusters.

Clear Skys