I'm a high school engineering teacher looking to purchase a CNC machine for a new lab. I've seen the ShopBot Desktop in action and have decided to go with a ShopBot machine.

I'm in the enviable spot of having some leeway in terms of physical space and cost. I'm looking at the ShopBot Desktop and Shopbot Alpha Buddy 48 with the 4' powestick.

I have not seen the Buddy in action but going through the forums have seen some who recommend skipping the Buddy and going straight to the full size ShopBot. What are the advantages and disadvantages? How hard is it to put together the Buddy? I don't know of any schools in the Miami area with ShopBots as of right now and we don't have any vendors who are selling/supporting it so we'd be on our own in terms of putting it together and getting it up and running.

Thanks and all advice/suggestions/experience would be welcome!