I'm sorry to ask a question so similar to what has been asked a number of times. I went thru pages in the search but could not quite find the answer I was looking for.
I need to pick up a hot air station for daily use but I have not used one in the past and don't know anything about the brands. I'm a hakko fanboy but their hot air stations are outside the price range I can get approved for. There is a giant mess of hot air stations on amazon but the pricing seems to either be >$100 junk or <$1000+. My experience with cheap irons has me really hesitating on the 858D clones. Some of them are just silly, why would someone want a MP3 player in a hot air station. I don't need 20 cheap tools and arms included. I don't have any use for a dual station, I love my hakko. I just need a single solid hot air gun I can use daily to assemble prototypes as well as fix boards in the future. By chance are there any 858D clone brands that I should lean towards or should I really be using for the higher end rework stations? Ideal budget range was around $300 USD but now I'm not sure if it's worth it unless I spend over $1,000 USD.