Finally bit the bullet and bought a TIG welder

^this... In all honesty though it has been great reading this thread and if I decide to buy a tig regardless of manufacture I will be reviewing the points you've raised here.

Love the avatar illustration! Welcome to the forum!

Yeah, I'm going to try and give as much feedback as I can. I've grown fond of online user forums, just for the real to life experiences. It's nice to be able to shed some truth and experiences on the typical masking that lies behind computer monitors. Youtube comments can raise interesting points on a lot of technical videos, but sometimes, it's so impersonal that you'd think everyone has a Jeopardy buzzer under their hands for the sake of argument.