Good post Jay!
I said this a few posts back --- it's not the TIG machine that does the welding - it's the operator. A guy that can weld - will be able to weld with damn near anything.
It's a budget and "use" thing. In actual fact - the TIG, used at home, gets very few actual hours per year. Buy the one you can and learn to use it WELL.... If this is something you love to do and want to improve your machine - then you cross that bridge when you come to it.
Having said all of that.... a machine does have qualities that will help you do a better weld in various situations. Pulse - arc shape - stability of the arc etc. But these are things most likely used by welders that do this stuff for a living. If you weld for a couple hours every 6 weeks... you really aren't ever going to be that good at it. You'll be able to weld "fine" - and you'll be able to stick some metal together... but you're not going to lay perfect stacks of dimes going up and down and around. That's the welders hands not the machine.
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