Hi Emily -
I own a Nova Comet II Lathe as well as a large Nova DVR II. I bought the Nova Comet as a replacement for my original Delta Midi lathe which had burned up. The Comet II is a good lathe for smaller items, like pens and small spindle turnings, which is why I bought it. It has a #2 Morse taper on both the head and tail stock, making it capable of using add ons for much larger lathes. It also has a 1"x 8" headstock thread, which is a good standard for a midi lathe for lots of chuck options. I use a Oneway Talon chuck on mine and it is well suited for the lathe and size projects. Another plus is it has a dial type variable speed change, allowing selection of various speeds per belt position. That said, it does not support continuous speed changes from 0 to top RPM, but does require belt changes at key points in the speed range. The manufacturers did this to maximize the torgue per speed range due to the smaller motor on the lathe.
This is not a lathe for doing large turnings, nor roughing out larger pieces of wood - it just doesn't have the power, but it is very capable for spindle turning of smaller pieces like a pen or 1.5" or smaller spindle. If you think you will be doing larger turnings, this isn't the lathe, but it is very strong on projects suited for its size and power.
I have not had any issues with the lathe in the roughly 2 years I have owned it. I do all my polishing and buffing on this lathe for all the turnings I do on my larger lathe, and use it also for a lot of pen making tasks without issue. I have heard of some people having issues with the headstock bearings failing after a while, but most reviews seem to be good.
My only advise is buy once, cry once. Carefully think of what lathe tasks and projects you ultimately want to do with the lathe and spend as much as you can on a lathe that will get you there. Bed length, bed swing, and power are givens that you cannot change, so be sure it will do what you want before puitting some cash down.