One thing I would like to clear up is the Miller vs Hobart debate. While they are owned by the same company they are not the same welder. While the case styling, ect may be similar, the stuff that matters is not. Typically the Hobarts use cheaper liners, guns, drive/roller assemblies, solonoids, and of course power supplies. This is not to say that Hobarts are junk(in fact they're very good), but you're getting much more than blue paint for the price increase. The tapped vs variable power supply and soft start alone makes a huge difference if you like messing with aluminum, stainless, and joining different thickness metals. With a tapped power supply you can use gun orientation and speed to bridge the gap between settings, but that requires more skill than the average homeowner possesses.
My comments about plasma cutters before are based on a few things. Before American Chopper, Monster Garage, ect 99.99% of the population had never even heard of a plasma cutter. The average person who hasn't used one thinks it's a magic wand that can cut anything perfectly like a water jet on TV. Even after you understand the kerf, dross, stand off, power settings, air flow, and cut in/out angles, and work speed......it's still a pain in the ***. By the time you roll out the machine, set it up, build a cut guide/fence, ect you could've done it faster and cleaner with a different tool. I have plasma on my trucks, in my shop, and at my house. The only time it gets used is for heavy material where a saw would take too long.
I just see an awful lot of plasma cutters in a corner covered in dust because the buyer thought it was gonna be a magic wand/water jet. They're not.
