I have this lathe, and for me, as a starter lathe, it's done pretty well. I bought the whole kit (with the carbide tools and all the extras), so I'm not sure what came with the base kit, but with the setup I got, I made a pen that day.
Yes, my tailstock has some wobble in it. I just take care and align it properly before tightening it down. The spindle on the tailstock is kinda tight when it's near the 0 mark, I've disassembled and cleaned it repatedly, but it still binds a bit when ejecting MT2 tools. It's not a pro level machine, and it shows, but I've been able to do good work on it.
On mine though, the indexing knob is a spindle lock. It can index and lock down for chuck removal. Since it is a 1"-8 thread spindle, any of the common accessories will work on it. I have since gotten a Nova G3 chuck, with a few different sets of jaws, and it work great. I'm in the process of building a jig to make it into a drum sander too (Stephen oogles Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICehToDaObk ). I have no doubt it will handle any glue block, Longworth, Donught, or vacuum chuck I throw at it. All of which are planned for this lathe. Again, since it uses a standard spindle size, my chuck and all the jigs I build will transfer over to any other lathe I get.
It's smaller size/weight, has brought up an issue for me. Having done quite a few bowls and vases on it, I'd really like the headstock to pivot. But, since this is a smaller lathe, not an option. Nor is reversing the motor an option. The fact that it weighs enough to pick up and move, with a work piece still mounted, is a huge plus though. Instead of leaning way over to hollow out insides, I just pick the lathe up, spin it around, and do the hollowing "southpaw".
The motor seems a lot stronger than I expected. Not that I had a frame of reference as this is my first functioning lathe, but I've had some beefy pieces mounted and it's run like a champ. For pens and smaller spindle work, I leave it in high gear (900-4000(?)rpm) range, but for bowls and anything that might need a bit of torque, I'll leave it in the lower gear (500-2000rpm). Changing the belts between the two gears is a simple process; pop a cover off, loosen a lever, change the belt settings, re-tighten. The variable speed is a really nice feature, I don't think I could deal with having to swap belts every time I wanted to change speeds.
Bottom line: Would I recommend this lathe to a friend getting into turning? Yes, but the whole kit, as I wasn't finding a dozen things I needed right off the bat.
Would I rather have another lathe? I don't know. I haven't played with many lathes in this price/size range, so I don't have much to compare to. It won't be my last lathe, but I don't think I'll be getting rid of it.
So if you can grab one for a good price, go for it.
PS: I think mine was a used and return. The work lamp was broken, but the replaced that, and there were a few extra bolts that I thought belonged on a lawn mower push handle, as they were huge. Customer service told me they were to hold the belt door closed, but as they are bigger than the door, I doubt it.
