I just skimmed through this thread, and i wanted to say that i have had this lathe since feb and i have not had any problems with it. i just moved into a new place, and i found that if you take the gearbox off of the bed, its easily moved my only 2 people.
i just bought more tools and accessories within the last month, and some of the things i cant even imagine living without now are: dial indicator, 4-jaw chuck, QC toolpost and a live centre. i know there is plenty more, but those are the ones that made a huge difference in what i was able to do and how easy it was to do it.