David's machine and set up is over the top!
I don't have enough time on my machine to pass judgment. My previous lathe was a South Bend 10K and the PM1340GT is a different animal all together. I can't say whether this machine is the best in its class or whatnot, but what I can say is the information and support available here on this forum regarding this particular machine is priceless.
QMT does a great job of crating the unit but make sure they utilize some packing material between the lathe and accessories they ship inside along with the lathe. Mine came with a lot (and I mean a lot) of unnecessary chips in the paint from the accessories and chip tray bouncing around and rubbing each other. If you do get some chips, there is no touch up paint available from QMT. However, based upon information on this forum, I was able to take the micrometer stop to Lowes and have them color match the paint which turned out really well. The only downside is I had to purchase an entire gallon where a quart would have been a lifetime supply. I have been able to utilize the extra paint for some of the brackets and mounts that you will end up fabricating for the machine so I have been happy to have the extra paint on hand.
Also, the crate the lathe is in comes with a secondary pallet underneath for some reason. In my research, I noticed a lot of posts detailing the difficulty of removing this extra pallet. I was able to get my driver to remove this extra pallet with his equipment and I had him set the primary pallet on top of some 6" sections of 4x4 so that I could get the legs of my engine hoist underneath. I think that saved me a lot of time and effort not having to figure out how to get rid of the extra pallet.
Good luck and make sure to post up on your progress.