[William Miller]

Originally Posted by smdubovsky

Jazz is right. Night and day. Though I'd take offense to his choice of brand for people who solder for a living Every company I've ever worked for (3) has universally hated the blue wellers. The elements fail and temp reg suck. A Hakko or Pace w/ a ceramic core seem to last 10x longer and heat faster (and are very easily & cheaply replaceable when even they eventually go)

Though if you're not soldering a lot and are a car person, I'd actually recommend a portasol butane powered iron first. Works anywhere and can heat up and crank out a couple wires before you even found an extension cord for a wired model. Not efficient at wiring a car though. Same deal: night and day difference between a good one and a radioshack model.

Except, I'd run out of butane just when I need it. Like my fancy digital air pressure gauge (With a dead battery) that hangs on my wall next to the one that I use all the time!