So, total newbie to this forum but please bear with me. I've been involved in hobby electronics for 3 or so years not, but one of my interests is component level motherboard repair. Because I want to do this as a hobby, mainly with macintosh motherboards, I am in need of a decent hot air rework station that will be able to do resistors, fuses, and QFN and the like, perhaps even BGAs.
I am in contact with another guy who does this kind of mac repair for a living. I asked him about getting a hot air rework station, and he very much turned me away from the cheaper brands, such as Aoyue and the Hakko knock offs. He has a Hakko FR801 and swears by it in terms of quality. Unfortunately, this is a bit out of my price range being a student. My max budget is around $250, maybe $300 total if I stretch it. I've also been told by him that an older Hakko, an 850/851 will not cut it for my needs, and I'm inclined to believe him as he has had experience with both stations as well as his new one, and does the same kind of repair as I will do.
So, are there any stations in my budget with great quality? I don't care about build quality as long as the hot air output is nice. I've been looking at the X-Tronic #5040 model as it includes a preheater but have found some iffy reviews of it and it seems to use the same heater as a $50 Atten, so probably not my top choice. I've seen a few other systems, Blackjacks, even a few older metcals on eBay but I am not sure whats the best use for me... Any advice? I will likely use it for SMD components, QFN and perhaps smaller BGAs if I have a *lot* of practice, but it will probably be used some for through hole reflowing or getting parts off, heat shrink, etc.
I am also looking to upgrade my soldering iron, and getting a desoldering iron and preheater. I'd prefer separate units but I am quite willing to look into all-in-ones.