Price Paid:  $100.00 from 123dj.com

Summary:
I am a beginning Dj and got this in a package deal and it's been working great. It seems a little heavy, and a little slow to start and stop, and the cue arm is pretty sensative

Strengths:
Solid build, simple design

Weaknesses:
slow and heavy

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Etronics.com

Summary:
Solid, well made and sounds great! More than I expected from a $100 turntable. Happy I made the investment to replace my ailing 23 year old model. Would recommend to anyone who is looking to spin some old vinyl again. It is great Gemini makes a good quality product that I can use with my existing phono cartridges (standard mount) vs. modular type offered on many models today.

Strengths:
Impressed with overall construction. For a $100 turntable this unit is well made and feels solid.

Weaknesses:
Since I am not a DJ, the only recommendation would be to offer a semi-auto model vs. only manual. Not that big of a deal though.

Similar Products Used:
Technics Belt Drive Turntable

Price Paid:  $90.00 from shop around

Summary:
this deck impressed me for a number of reasons. it appeared to be made of very high quality materials. it is far heavier than any other belt drive tables available right now, and is not made of chinsey plastic parts painted metallic. for a belt drive, the spin-up is very fast and the deck is decently-high torque. (but obviously isn't designed for heavy scratching) the feather touch start/stop and all of the features it offered at such an affordable price made this deck a steal, and is certainly the best manual belt drive deck i've laid my hands on. the 3 year warranty doesn't hurt either!

Strengths:
well weighted, heavy duty, quality materials, professional dj deck features (stylus light, +/- 10% pitch w/ pitch bend) easy access to internal fine pitch adjustments

Weaknesses:
belt-drive

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Aiwa, Numark (belt drives)

Price Paid:  $140.00 from performance-s-l.com

Summary:
This is a fairly good beginner turnatble. It is not great for scratching because its is not direct drive. The cue arm when i first got it broke, which is the only thing i have had trouble w/ so far. Overall i would suggest it to a dj that is not sure if he/she would commit to djing or not.

Strengths:
Fairly heavy duty, Doesn't wear down (atleast for the time i have had it)

Weaknesses:
Slow start and stop. Cue arm is delicate.

Similar Products Used:
Xl-500II