well in MY opinion.. I would NOT buy that.. I have one just like it.. and never really got it to work for me very well. I doubt that it has morse taper on either end, so you are stuck with trying to figure out how to make that work with the standard pen turning equipment. I am actually going to repurpose mine for a buffing system soon.
I looked for a while on Craigslist and just in the last few weeks found a Jet 1014 midi lathe and for $125 a Grizzly 0486 full size lathe. I have to say, if I had bought those in the beginning, I would have been turning for a lot longer.
That said, if you are looking to turn spindles and some faceplate work, then go for it and get started making shavings. I have to also say, I was never really hooked on turning until I had my shopsmith and it worked fairly well, but nothing compared to a real one purpose lathe.
If you do decide to go with that type, you can probably actually find it NEW for less than $100. I looked and Harbor freight has several lathes at a low price and honestly, several really great turners on this site use Harbor Freight lathes as they are very similar to the name brands.
But of course, anything you can do to get the feeling for creating pens, you should do. You will soon be hooked... I know I am an addict now! lol