With a Manual Turntable, you manually place the stylus/needle on the record and return it at the end. The record keeps spinning until you stop the turntable. Andover Audio offers a manual turntable called the SpinDeck ($349).
If you've spent any time with a manual turntable, you will find the Automatic Turntable provides additional conveniences: the tonearm moves automatically – whether it's starting at the beginning of a record, or returning back to home base after there record ends.
You don't have to worry about dropping the needle accidentally when manually queuing, and causing damage to your favorite records. You also don't have to worry about forgetting to lift the tonearm at the end of a record, or to stop the turntable platter, when you're done listening.
Andover Audio has recently introduced an automatic turntable in order to give turntable enthusiast a more convenient way to enjoy records. It's called the SpinDeck MAX ($599),and was voted as BEST TURNTABLE by Rolling Stone in their 2021 Essentials list.
At one time there were record players that allowed you to load multiple records, and it would cycle through each record, one-after-the-next. This was perfect for a party or hanging out at Arnold's on Happy Days.
Enjoy those records!
