I'm not so sure I'd call that machine benchtop. It is pretty large. Anyhow, it looks like a nice machine, but I really know nothing about it. The
Tormach has become fairly popular recently, and it is a bit cheaper, however, its travel is a bit smaller and they say to always buy the biggest machine you can afford. I'd still recommend checking it out though. Also, you will want to look at the rapid speeds on it. The Tormach's are not very high (about 65 IPM if I recall correctly).
You should check out
www.cnczone.com for lots of info and whatnot.
On the CNC Express from MicroKinetics, it is a round column mill. Not as rigid as square column mills. And while it does claim respectable rapids and feedrates of over 100 IPM, I think it is a bit overpriced for what it is, also considering Y axis travel is limited to 7 inches.