I just bought the PM1340GT. Still setting it up, but fit and finish of the lathe is excellent. Lots of good information over at Hobby-Machinist.com. There is a PM sponsored sub-forum. To keep at your $5K budget, look at the PM1236T. It's the Taiwan manufactured model, with induction hardened and precision ground ways.
Some of the differences are the Grizzly 0750G uses the D1-5 spindle nose, the PM1236T uses the more common D1-4, Grizzly has 1 year warranty, the PM1236T is 3 years, Grizzly 32 inch cutting threads, PM1236T 40 inch cutting thread. One big advantage of the PM is it's offered in 3 phase 220. With 3 phase you can run it on single phase 220 through a VFD. The VFD will allow you many options for controlling speed above and below that of a single phase 220 motor. Three phase reduces low rpm surging, and you can install VFD inputs such as a proximity sensor for inside blind threading - or threading into a barrel shoulder. The Grizzly does come with an outboard spider, but that's an easy first project when you get your lathe up and running. None of this is to say the Grizzly is not a decent lathe, but PM offers some great alternatives. Just about everyone selling manual engine lathe is having them built in Taiwan or China. They may look identical, but check the specs out carefully. There are significant differences in quality.
Here's a review from one of the Hobby-Machinist forum members: