ok my character is at level 50 and i've been playing the game for 180 hrs but my smithing skill is at 31 and enchanting is not much better. most of my other skills are between 80 and 100 and i get all my weapons and armour from dead bodies, guild quests, chests and so on and they are all already enchanted when i get them. but i was wondering if i never level smithing will i be missing out on better armour and weapons once my character level reaches say 70 or 80 in the game because i have not levelled smithing. or will better armour and weapons become available once i reach a higher character level?

No. You will not be missing out on much. Daedric armour and dragon armour are very rare drops though.

Once you hit lvl 50 nothing else in the game is supposed to level with you.....at that point you just get stronger.

All you'll be missing is the extra damage/defence you get from improving your weapons/armour with smithing.

However, that is quite a disadvantage since with decent smithing you can more than double your damage/defence of your items.

Everything up to Glass / Ebony is widely available in the game ...

I have found a Daedric Greatsword once. I don't think I have ever seen daedric / dragon armor that I hadn't crafted myself.

cheers everybody, sounds like i've got all the good stuff i need already then.