I have been somewhat seriously looking in to machines since January this year, not thinking I could afford anything in the price range of a machine I wanted. When I saw the Tormach on the forum here last year, my jaw dropped at what you could get for your money, but the money has always been lacking.
Well, I got a great bonus this year, and I have pulled the trigger on the Mikini. I did a good bit of research on the options, and while it may be $1-2k more than "comparable" mills, it has enough specs and features in my mind that put it ahead of the competition (Tormach, Novakon, IH, Syil, etc.). The Tormach for me was a close second place. The best thing Tormach has going for it, though, is new product development. I am hoping that I will be able to integrate new Tormach stuff on the Mikini as they come out.
I have ordered a Computer-less 1610L, stepper driven, with the 4th axis, 2 vises, and starter tooling package. Unfortunately I have not been paid my bonus yet, but it is due by the end of July. My machine is ready for pickup now, so I am getting anxious!
On another side note, I broke 5 bones in my toes 2 weeks ago, so it may be a while before I get the machine uncrated and positioned so that I can post up some good pictures and videos of my work, but I promise I will keep this forum populated with posts once I get it up an running!
I have talked to several Mikini owners, and heard mostly good comments (a few issues, but none serious or unrepairable). There were a few hiccups along the way for some users, but it sounds like Phil is pretty responsive and supports the machines in the field pretty well. I do hope that once I start posting more on this machine, that some other Mikini users will give back to the community as well. I am very disappointed in how little user feedback is available on the web - compared to the Tormach, there are really no user discussions at all : ( This fact alone was almost enough to turn me off of getting the Mikini... Hope I didn't make a bad choice!