[T_Raven]

I've always preferred Lincoln welders. I just bought a used mig 255 off cl. The best price I've found for them was $3000 shipped online, I bought it for $1750. I also bought my Lincoln tig and plasma cutter off cl for less than 1/2 of new. All of these are barely used machines in great shape. I know you said you've been looking for a few months but good deals come up if you're not in a huge hurry and are willing to drive a little to get a deal.

I've never used a HTP so I can't say anything about the quality.

I do have a question that would be relevant to choosing if you plan to do a lot of sheet metal.

To those who do more welding than I do, do these bigger migs weld sheet metal well? I know they say they can, but when I took the chassis fab course at WyoTech the instructors there would always grab a smaller 110v mig when they wanted to weld something thin. They said even though the bigger machines could be turned down, it was easier to to weld thin metal with the smaller mig. I've always had access to a smaller mig so I've never tried welding sheet metal with a 220v mig. I have a Lincoln 140c that I've been using for sheet metal and just picked up the 255 dropped off yesterday and I'm not home to try it out.