^ This.
Hard to go wrong with a '1200/1210 really. From what I remember the older Mk2 is preferable though, since it comes with a dust cover and a thicker turntable mat. With the thinner mat on the Mk5/M5D it may be impossible to get the tonearm levelled (it would be too high).
Some don't like the Technics' tonearm, but it isn't a bad mid-weight job (you can tweak moving mass by using different headshells btw). You can still put on another if you really want to.
If the '1200/1210 is too spendy, I'd look at older (near-)TOTL direct drives from the '70s and '80s. (These Technics have some semi-automatic and automatic cousins, too.) Usually the things you (may) need to do to get them up and running again are pretty well-documented. OK, maybe I'd stay away from Sony Biotracers, these tend to be very complex and not exactly a joy to fix.
The Rega is an entry-level "boutique" 'table. You need to take off the platter in order to swap the belt to another pulley if you want to switch speeds (c'mon, which century is this?!), and I can see neither pitch control nor strobo.
In terms of '1210 "clones", the Stanton ST.150 isn't too bad AFAIK. The Audio Technica AT-LP120-USB seems to be very good for the price, too.