I started to type out a post in this thread a few days ago about suspended versus mass-loaded tables, and then bagged it because I feared it would scare people off. Tables tend to come in two varieties, suspended or mass-loaded, whereby the designer attempts to address airborne and physical vibrations via suspensions or mass-loading. Tables with suspensions deal with vibration by suspending part or all of the plinth and platter with springs, rubber grommets or rubber bands, etc. Examples are the Linn LP12 and the Basis tables. Mass-loaded tables address vibration by using engineered materials (something that's typically heavy or dense or otherwise structured to affect vibration, like carbon fiber) to evacuate vibration or convert it into something less harmful to playback. Examples are the Walker, the Galibier, and the Verdier La Platine. Some table designs are hybrids, like the SME's and some VPI tables. Every table needs to be on a good platform, but this is particularly important for mass-loaded tables, as they are quite susceptible to foot fall if not placed on an isolated surface.
I would strongly recommend that a beginner stay away from the suspended tables, particularly the Linn, which is capable of high performance, but a real handful to keep set up properly. It's a shame, as the Linn's are great for rock - they boogie.
Regarding LP quality, the above poster is correct - it's very much an album-by-album thing. A particular album release or particular artist may get a rep for good pressings (White Stripes releases, for example), but if you're talking about a classic rock album from the 70's, there may be fifteen different pressings and it's impossible to know what you've got until you clean it and spin it. Also and very importantly, you can't completely judge a used album by its face - many seemingly perfect looking LP's have serious groove damage and sound like shit because they were played with bad styli, while albums that look somewhat scratched up sound great because the scratches are surface-level and the grooves were not penetrated. Obviously ragged LP's are obviously ragged, but don't be surprised if you get a "mint"-rated LP that looks less than mint but sounds flawless.
Finally, I disagree with the posts that portray vinyl as being some kind of gigantic science project that will have you running around with a protractor, never knowing if your going to be able to play a record. It's simple - get a mass-loaded table, have it set up properly (and then resist the temptation to fuck around with the set up), vacuum clean every LP that comes into your possession before you play it, and thereafter, before and after you play a side, remove surface dust with a brush. Finally, pay your set-up guy $150 every year to eighteen months to come out and check your set-up. That's it - the only thing that's remotely inconvenient is the four or five minutes it takes to vacuum clean an LP - if you come home from the bargain bins with fifty LP's that need cleaning, pay your kid or some kid in the neighborhood a few bucks to do it for you.
