My brother has the table that the Interspace has replaced, the Nottingham Horizon SE. It doesn't have the same tonearm issues. I don't know why they would have changed that design. They are good tables, but I personally would have to agree with what the reviewer said about the quirks. I thnk the Rega P5 is a much better bet in that price range - far better tonearm (RB700) in particular.
Comments about Nottingham quirks
In this month's 2009 analog issue of "The Absolute Sound" there is a review of the Nottingham interspace Jr. that seems pretty bad. I was considering a 294 until I read how annoying most operations of the Nottingham are. The weird thing is they list the 249 as one the best recommendations even though it has the same quirks as the interspace Jr. Any thoughts?