Thanks, I prefer to do things the old fashioned way, with elbow grease and perspiration; BUT if do change my mind, I'll let you know.
I'm currently at 910M CR or so, which I ended at after starting with about 1.3M CR and ran cargo in my T9 from a planetary port on one body to a station around an adjacent body ([whispering] in the Asterope system), with a separation of about 10 Ls or less depending on time of day. Took about a week or so (@ 4 to 6 hours/day) and I earned my first Elite along the way.
I think my next big step is going to be deep core mining, though not sure if it will hold my interest. I tend to be all over the place from day to day.
BTW, I'm finding ground missions to be a great, um, distraction when needed; though my last three didn't go so well. I keep forgetting to turn my shield on BEFORE I start shooting.