Ditto! Couldn't have said it better myself. The tip controlled temperature is the only way I ever found to keep the ham-fisted guys at work from just cranking the temperature all the way up. It saved many, many PC boards from trace damage. When I was in charge of the shop I always picked up those stations with a temperature setting knob in my office and did not let them out.
And yes, they do last forever. I bought mine back around 1970 and it still works fine today - with the SAME TIPs that I purchased with it at that time. I never have had to replace a single tip.
And it is my go-to desoldering station as well. I know others will disagree, but a separate solder sucker is just as good or better than those stations with a built in vacuum pump.
I have had my own Weller temperature controlled soldering station for 50 years and used a few more at work. They still make and sell the same one today. The temperature is fixed by the tip part number and there is almost no electronics unlike some "Mickey Mouse" stations that use a light dimmer adjustable power circuit to mess up the heating. Because my soldering station is never too hot the tip lasts for years. If I solder to something that is huge then it automatically turns up the power to stay at its fixed temperature. I can leave it turned on all day and it simply reduces its power to prevent overheating.
Idling cheap soldering irons get too hot so the tip corrodes away soon. When soldering, the rosin in the solder immediately turns into charcoal and pcb copper lifts off. When soldering longer than a few seconds with a cheap iron then it gets too cold.
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