I have read from lots of people who have that lathe and like it a lot. And have read of some who have had it, didn't care for it much, and moved on to something else. I looked at one in the store and I felt it was underwhelming compared to other lathes of similar size/capacity/options.
It was one of my 3 or 4 choices when I purchased a new lathe a year and a half ago. What I did was made a chart that had the specs of each lathe I was considering, plus the specs of the lathe I was upgrading from. (I upgraded from a Jet 1014.) Two things that I considered very highly in my decision making: power, as the 1/2HP of the 1014 just wasn't enough, and lack of changing belts, as I was sick of always changing belt positions to change speed. I had the Nova Comet II, the Rikon 70-220VSR, and the Jet 1221VS as my final three choices. And went with the Jet 1221VS, catching it at a time when Jet was running it on promotion for 10% off through the retailers. Yes, it cost more than the others, but it was more robustly built, has 1HP, and I almost never have to change belt position - I looked at the speeds I turn at most often and I would have still had to frequently change the belt position on the Nova and Rikon lathes when changing speeds due to smaller ranges of speeds offered in the different belt positions. I also found the Jet to be the lathe that more people were proportionately happy with compared to the other two - far less negative comments vs. positive comments. I have been very happy with my purchase of the Jet 1221VS and wouldn't trade it in for any other lathe of similar size. If I were to ever get rid of it, it would be because either I went for a bigger lathe or I ran it into the ground and it was beyond repair. Thus far it has met my needs quite well and I have not regretted spending the extra money to buy it over the similar Rikon or Nova lathes.
FWIW, when I looked at the Nova Comet II in person, it was sitting next to a Jet 1221VS. It looked and felt like a toy in comparison to the Jet. If you have the chance to go to a Woodcraft or a Rockler, or maybe even an Acme tools, you should be able to check out at least a couple of these lathes in person.