Mate if I get some "fun money" (my hobby budget) ever topped up, I will go the Aoyue stuff without a doubt.
If you are interested, search youtube for "aoyue" - there seem to be a lot of happy people demonstrating their gear.
Hakko is obviously the bee's knees, but I think priced into the commercial rather than hobby segment...
Cheers
Jacob
Aoyue is one of the largest manufacturers of this type of equipment in China. They are pretty much copies of Hakko stuff at around 1/4 the price! I have a couple of Aoyue soldering stations that you cannot pick the difference from Hakko that I paid $18 each for in China. The only flaw I have found is the soldering pencil is not as sturdy as a Hakko and the cable is not 'burn proof' - apart from that it sure is hard to beat the price!
