Except it's not so easy to get your hands on one these days. They are constantly out of stock. (IIRC they are basically now hand made by a guy out of the UK).

I get the appeal of manual levers to espresso enthusiasts but would strongly dissuade beginners from starting with one. When you are learning to dial in a shot what you want is consistency and reproducibility which is the opposite of what you get with a manual lever.

Also it doesn't steam milk so you need to figure out a separate solution for steaming if you want to make a flat white/cappuccino/latte/etc.

That's not to say you should dump thousands of dollars into a La Marzocco, but there are plenty of entry level machines in the $300-500 range that would suit a beginner just fine.