If you can wait it out, the FX-888D goes on sale every now and then. I got mine for $60 which was a great deal. I rather have the FX-888 to finly adjust the temperature, but the pre-set method is just as good. I have mine pre-set to Celsius, and this does well on 5 pre-sets between 300-400. (300,325,350,375,400). The thermal recovery is very good on the 888D, but that is compared to my terrible Stahl Tools SSVT iron station which was a quick $15. The separate base unit and iron stand is convenient. Tips are available off of Ebay for very cheap, in all different styles. If you can think of it they have it. Half of the battle with a soldering iron is the tips. For general soldering, and well out of laziness I normally use a wedge tip for everything. Tips are easy to change though, you just have to wait for it to cool down because it keeps its heat so well! On mine it takes roughly 30 seconds to heat to 300 Celsius which is amazing compared to the 5 minutes on my old cheap-o iron. I would recommend highly Hakko is a trusted brand when it comes to soldering irons.