I bought this one; http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/vertool-das-21e-dual-action-polisher/prod_1391.html and it's great, bigger orbital action than the DAS6/pro/+
I popped my DA cherry and i had my first go with the meguiars yesterday:
I wanted to remove 3 deep scratches from the golf and a little one from the z4.. light wet sand with 2500 and then used the compounds you get with the kit (i bought separately on amazon a couple of weeks ago as it worked out slightly cheaper) and then i used a liquid wax to finish it off. I managed to remove the z4 scratch and one on the golf completely, the other 2 you have to really look for I might have another go: I didn't want to over do it on the first attempt..
Found it pretty easy to use, not much pressure required, and very pleased with the results - replacement pads are quite expensive so i'll be looking for cheaper alternatives as i'd want some to be product specific (but that could be just me), the yellow pad that did most of the work was easy to clean. I'm pretty pleased with the purchase although i have nothing to compare it against.
I would separate the purchase of the polish from the compounds. I can't bring myself to use no brand products.
I use a heavy and very good Porter Cable and a wide range of Meguirs products to match what I need to achieve. Swirl removal, restore, polish, seal, etc. I have around 6 pads in different grades and sizes.
You're welcome to drop by and have a play with the he PC and see how you like it.
Menzerna is not a "no brand product" it's way above on Meguiars on the detailing scale ... (Meguiars is never used by professional detailers, it's just entry level products that are better than the ones in the supermarkets but I personaly find them expensive towards competition which often give better results).
All the forum I've read, were not really "pro meguiars" ...
I know I'm late to the party, but I'll throw my recommendation out there since I am a car detailer myself.
I recommend the Rupes Bigfoot polisher. The LHR15 mk2 to be precise along with the Rupes polishing combo. That's all you'll need imho to carry out any polishing task on the car.