Mitchael covered many of the positives in getting the Meade. Lets not forget about the obvious extra 1" in aperture as well. I've never actually seen the NextStar 11, but I have read a review (S&T or Astronmy, can't remember) and I've seen the CM1100 which is the same OTA. The CM1100 I saw arrived new badly out of collimation. I watched a few guys try to collimate it with not very good results and these were experienced guys. He eventually sent it back to Celestron and they fixed it. No collimation problems after that. The review I read said the Nextstar 11 also arrived badly out of collimation. The author fixed it himself. I have an LX200 for 2 1/2 years, never touched the collimation and it's fine. Next the reviewer also said the NextStar could not be used manually. If your battery goes dead, your done for the night. I find that hard to believe, I'd check that out with Celestron. The CM1100 came with a 1.25 diagonal. The LX200 comes with a 2". The CM1100 had bad balance problems when my buddy changed the 1.25 to a 2". But that was on the CI700 EQ mount, that may not be the case with the fork mount. I'd check that with Celestron before changing it. They were no help when my buddy called with the balance issue. You changed it, you fix it, was their position. $2995 is a great price for a 12" LX200. I payed $3995 for the non GPS and that was a great price at the time, they had just lowered it from $4499. I know 3 other people with the 12"LX200 and I've seen quite a few more at big star parties, all are very with it. You will be too. Don't forget, it's heavy, 70 lbs. You have to lift it onto the tripod which is 50 lbs. Make sure you think can handle it first. That is an issure for people who are not strong enough to handle it. I don't see any women setting up a 12" LX200 alone, and I do know a few people who got the 10" or 8" because of the weight. I don't find it that bad, (actually it's a piece of cake). Good Luck.
That's it
BOB SAL