I 100% agree with your points. A more apt comparison could have been against the SkyGuider Pro (or the SkyTracker), which is $400 for double the payload capacity. So, in a sense, this mount is priced very well.
My original point was more along the lines of "if you think $200 for a mount is expensive in astrophotography then you will be very disappointed when you start learning about the hobby". I see this high ($$$) barrier of entry as a very real impediment to getting started in the hobby. But like you said, you don't need to go all in when starting, a decent DSLR and a tracking mount will provide countless hours of fun (and frustration!).
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I 100% agree with your points. A more apt comparison could have been against the SkyGuider Pro (or the SkyTracker), which is $400 for double the payload capacity. So, in a sense, this mount is priced very well.
My original point was more along the lines of "if you think $200 for a mount is expensive in astrophotography then you will be very disappointed when you start learning about the hobby". I see this high ($$$) barrier of entry as a very real impediment to getting started in the hobby. But like you said, you don't need to go all in when starting, a decent DSLR and a tracking mount will provide countless hours of fun (and frustration!).