I went for a budget deck - Project Debut III with an Art Accessories ADC, with the intention of ripping my old LP collection to digital files. After making a few not very satisfactory recordings, I then realised how good vinyl sounded and what I'd been missing out on for years, and started collecting LPs again! A great and very cheap (about £60) upgrade was a Cambridge 551P phono stage, surprisingly it improved what I thought was a very decent MM input on my Creek amplifier. Don't think they make them any more, but there are plenty of other options (including Rega of course).
The Rega P3 gets very good reviews and has a loyal following, but I have no complaints about my Project, and if / when I upgrade the turntable I would be happy to stick with that brand - both have a minimalist approach which I like.