If you want to get into vinyl and have a tight budget but still want quality, this is your buy. I have the espirit version (slight upgrade) with ortofon red stylus and definitely recommend. Does require a preamp.

I have found this turntable to be terrific for the money. You can upgrade a few items to make it sound even better without spending megabucks either. Mine came with the Ortofon OM10 cartridge, with sounds pretty good to my ears, but doing some research reveals a 200 dollar investment in an OM20 can deliver great results, which is what I ended up doing in purchasing and installing a OM20 super cartridge. Don't waste your money on a 200 buck turntable from JB's, etc. spend the extra on a unit like this and you won't regret it.
simplicity, great sound out of the box, looks good
no auto return, auto stop, etc. fully manual. Will eventually make you catch upradeitis.