It's too bad Technics stopped making new SL-1200MKII's because out of the box brand new they are nice machines.
I got an SL1210 M5G (has OFC tonearm wire) from a Guitar Center for $500 in 2007. I've added various damping and platforming tweaks for not much money, and five years later I have no inclination to upgrade. For quite awhile you could get an SL1210 MkII from Musicians Friend for $399. That's an insanely low starting point for something so substantially and precisely built that spins the platter so accurately.