I have a cobra lathe, and I can't really think of anything wrong with it, and for $100 on stormerhobbies.com you can't really go wrong (unless you want a diamond bit, which somebody else has mentioned, the whole thing goes for 169, but at the time I can't justify spending that much money on a bit. I don't know if its true, but I've heard that diamond bits dont actually make a better quality cut, they just last longer, and for the amount of carbide bits I could get for $70, I'm not too worried about that). I have the manual version, and I can see how an automated lathe might make more consistent cuts, but I dont think that would be enough of a difference to justify the extra cash. Besides, I prefer the manual version cause I feel like I'm in more control. Just my $.02