>>4151468I know it's common sense but be prepared to travel away from light pollution if you live near a city and brace yourself for very few days with stable air depending on where you live. Try to get to higher altitudes wherever you are. This ties into my main point though: Weight. If you're going to be lugging it any great distances especially when it's icy, you'll really want to take this into consideration.
Keep a running tally of the total weight of the gear you're looking at. Remember you'll need a power source for guiding as well. Also, buy a mount that exceeds the weight capacity of whatever tube you choose. This way you can upgrade in the future and it puts less strain on the motors in the meantime. Bear in mind, most manufacturers are a bit too optimistic with their ratings on consumer grade mounts resulting in tracking errors. You'll want the smoothest operation possible and a struggling motor won't provide that, especially as the mount rolls over the top. Look for mounts with worm gears, or at least helical gears to avoid slop. Look for mounts with periodic error correction too, so they stay accurate as they age.
Excessive weight will affect you in other ways, especially on higher magnifications and longer exposures: The tripod will sink into the ground over time. If you're setting up in fields, this will be an issue. It only takes a few mm of settling to screw you over and it always happens unevenly with one leg dropping more.
I'm not going to make any brand recommendations. You really are in good hands though, because the astro community is extremely helpful. Signing up for cloudy nights can't hurt. Ask as many questions as you can think of and you will get solid info and advice there. Don't waste your money, it's easy to do that with astro.