I would purchase only a decent, small tool room lathe. Here are my reasons
1) you can take the legs off, stand it on end and move it with a hand truck.
2) the great majority of new, cost effective bench-tops are total junk.
3) if you pick the right lathe it will mitre tubes by holding the cutter in the jaws and using a v-block where the tool post goes. There is even an angle scale. You can also do some mill work with additional pieces.
4) There are millions of small lathes all over and old timers that know how to use them. The made many very good ones. Very few small mills in a decent weight range.
5) PA is a great place to shop for old machines. I used to go door-to-door in industrial areas. Lots of these machines were purchased for a single operation and once the task was over, moved aside and forgotten.
The import machines go down in value once you buy them.