[woody]

I used to have decks, Stanton direct drives. They weren't exactly cheap but still had no power really despite being direct drive. I liked the ease with which you could stop and speed up the platter though personally, I found it easier than the mad powerful technics

I'd say get the cheapest belt drives you can get to start with - If you're still into it in a year or two then buy 1210's

The "halfway between the two" style direct-drives are still weak as you like