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Let me tell you a little story.
The club that I work in normally use Technics SL1210 decks (basically the best you can get) but they were beginning to slip a bit, and needed a service. So they put them in for this service, and as a replacement, they got Soundlab DLP1 decks. It only dawned on me then JUST how bad belt decks can be. They don't hold their pitch - at all, they speed up and slow down through the tune (not only during the beat-matching process) and they're effected badly by heat - as the belt stretches and contracts. I must stress though that this doesn't only happen through heat - with belt driven decks, it just....happens. You have no idea how many mails I get that first say "I'm thinking of getting Belt Driven decks....." I tell them it's a bad idea, then in a few weeks, I get another one saying "why do they not hold their pitch?" DOH!!!
So back to my story; I spent the whole night having to really concentrate on my mixes, to some success, but it was REALLY hard. Add to this the fact that the counter weight on the tone arm wasn't sufficient to counteract the effects of club bass (needles kept jumping) and I was one step away from turning the music off and going home.
There is however, a school of thought that starting off with bad decks will help you in the long run though. Here's why:-
1) Bad decks that lose their pitch easily will teach you how to be really precise when it comes to beat-matching...
2) They also teach you how to correct timing errors during the mix (coz they go out of time all the time)
3) They.....well, that's about it really!!
So it all comes down to a matter of mind over money. How impatient you are is going to dictate what decks you get. Just remember that after about 6 months, you'll start to feel REALLY limited by these decks, and want to upgrade. Selling your decks second hand wont recuperate half of the money you spent on them, so you'll end up spending a lot more money in the long run.
Basically, the cheapest decks that I've used that I thought were of ANY cop at all, were the Gemini XL-500's at around £150 or the XL-600's at around £195. They both still suck, but their suckdom isn't anywhere near as bad as belt-driven decks. If you can wait a little longer, I recommend trying to get hold of the Gemini PT1000 or 2000's. They still cost a little bit more (around £220/£260 respectively)
Of course, you're probably thinking of trying to get hold of a package anyway, in which case there's lets of options. You can get basic Direct Drive Soundlab packages with a good mixer (Numark DM2000X for around £400, but then you can also get the XL-500 packages for the same price (get in touch with Kingston Sound and Light on 0181-339-0449 for those - they claim to do special offers for students). You can go cheaper package wise, it all comes down to the mixer you want. If you choose the Soundlab DSM15 mixer, you drop £80 in price - but you'll soon get pissed off with the mixer, want to buy another, better one, and end up spending more than that!!
If you're wondering why I'm talking only in terms of Soundlab and Gemini, it's because they're the only decks (other than Technics) that I've ever had ANY experience with. Also, some people claim that there isn't that much difference between the Soundlab Direct Drive decks (DLP3) and the Gemini XL-500's, but I think there is a small difference.
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