Depends on what YOU prefer, American vs Chinese machine, new verses used, warranty verses no warranty. Do you want an antique, like tinkering with classics?
Also take note of the spindle bore size, 1" 3/8 listed for that South Bend, 2" spindle bore on the PM1440.
I like old iron myself, when I was shopping for a new lathe I looked hard at old Logans and old South Bends. I ended up going Asian this time because it has a 3 year warranty and no inheriting project issues. Most of my machines are 20 years old or more, but my PM1236 has been a good experience. It's a couple months old now and I actually haven't had any problems with it at all so far.
If you go old iron or any used machine you should test it first, at least see it run. Old iron is really not for beginners, you can get burned if you don't know what your looking at. I bought a few antique machines and they all needed work, hard to find parts etc. But, it is fun having old machines, my oldest stuff dates back to 1941 and is still fully functional with some TLC. I buy my used machines sight unseen at bargin prices, that way if something is really bad I can part them out.