Agree with MartyJ's comment - never skimp on tools, although it comes down a bit to the application.
The best example of this working is i just bought a good (Wagner) airless paint gun from the states for $550 (around 1500- 1800 for the same model here), just finished painting our whole house this week, 2 coats took less than 5 hours for close to 300 sq m for each coat, an absolute pleasure to use, no problems whatsoever, no mucking around spilling paint out of roller or brush trays plus i've got myself a quality tool for good now (as long as i look after it)
I bought one of these cheap $130 compressors a few years back as i didn't have the cash to spend anymore, its pretty much stuffed now, used for pumping up car tyres, blowing down the workbench and pumping up ski tubes. The last one has probably been the big killer - have a look at the documentation of these cheap ones, and check out the duty cycle - mine was 25%, ie: run for 2 mins, off for 6 mins, so when i have it running flat for 25 mins, its never going to do it any good. For the occasional light use they will last a few years, but even if you use it only twice a year, but need it running straight for 0.5 - 1 hour at a time, you will probably be better off spending more on a decent one (i wish i had of now, as i will be shelling out for a new one soon), that said, i will be keeping an eye out for garage sales etc, to find a good solid older rig 2nd hand.
