In my opinion I would get the VFD. You need to change the speed on the lathe depending on the type of material and size of material your working with . It is a lot easier to turn a knob to change that speed than to have to change the belt all the time. The G0752 still has 3 different speeds to change a belt for but you rarely have to change the belt if you have the VFD. I don't have the DRO but it definitely would be nice to have that too, and it is nice to have it installed by the factory instead of adding later. But, the DRO would be easier to add later then adding VFD later. It is true you will need some tooling, obviously, but you can probably get by with the minimum of tooling and add this and that as you go. So, to sum it up. I would go with the VFD at least and if you can the DRO. But if you cant get any tooling if you do this then I would put off the DRO until later and get some tooling.