[TriEmbed] Opinion and spare junk

[Brian]

<snip ALL the quoted>

I have a TENMA 21-10130 iron/hot-air station with which I've been quite 
happy.  It did suffer a minor setback at one point which was solved by 
soldering a resistor somewhere inside (instructions were provided when I 
contacted support).  I'm sure it doesn't exceed some of these other 
well-recommended stations' performance, but here are the pluses as I see it:

+ Hot air, should you ever decide to take the SMT plunge
+ Iron heats really quickly
+ Digital temperature control
+ Digital air-flow control
+ Cost-effective for the hobbyist budget

I got mine from MCM:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/TENMA-21-10130-/21-10130

There seem to be plenty of tips and nozzles available, as well.  The 
0.5mm conical tip it comes with has met all of my needs so far.

My $0.02,
-Brian