Tom
I have the Record P/T 260, been using it for about 4 years and had no real problem. As dave says you will need chip extraction because it really eats the wood.
It gives a good cut in both operations, but Ifeel that it needs finishing off with hand tools.
The fence is fairly robust and sits at a trueangle on the table.
One thing I felt could be a bonus and that is wheelsto move it around. When I bought mine this kit didn't exist so my neighbour added wheel and handles so I can now move it like a wheel barrow. Not sure if they do wheel kits now.
The only real problem I've experienced with mine is getting the blades out of the block, its very fiddly. regarding the blade set up, I guess its the same as all the others. You will get ablade setter but I use the piece of wood method.
Other slight irretation is the instruction manual, not very good, the part that explains blade set up is not very clear. I went into the record forum and found some very useful pictorial steps on setting these up.
Overall I'm pleased with mine. I also note that the price is near enough the same as 4 years ago, thats got to be a big plus.
Let us know what your decision is.