Mick, I purchased a turntable 2 years ago and love it! You'll have a lot of fun with it.

I reccomend the Music Hall MMF series of turntables. You can see the entire line up on the Spearit Sound website at http://www.spearitsound.com (these guys are awesome, I've known 'em for 10+ years and they terrific folks to deal with). I have the MMF-7 and like it a lot. I also purchased a Plinius pre-amp to go along with the MMF-7. These guys have some great deals on used pre-amps so ask them what they might have for left overs or demo equipment.

Rega also makes a great turntable but as far as I know Music Hall has really become the best 'bang for the buck' in the market right now.