[quadchopper]

As for the 210DX, I would love to own that. But it is probably $1000 over my budget. Considering that a base machine is $4000 without a torch kit, pedal or regulator. That will likely be $4600 when all said and done. I haven't seen any rebates. If I can get the 210DX completed for $3600ish, it would definitely be the machine I would get. The reason the Aspect is appealing, I believe it is on par with the 210DX for $1000 less. I am I wrong in my assumptions?

The Lincoln is in the same ballpark as the 210DX from a performance standpoint, but that isn't what would concern me between the two.

As I worked through a number of welders to get to what I have now I sold off the previous machines. Several of the machines I sold went to welding shops that were replacing Lincoln for Miller because of service issues. The short version a couple of them said was that trying to get parts for a Lincoln that was 8-10 years old was often impossible. The last guy actually went to the Lincoln welding school and was a diehard red guy, but said that when his Lincoln TIG died and sat in the shop for two weeks waiting to see if they could find substitute parts they loaned him a Syncrowave 250DX. He bought my 5-6yrd old Sync 250DX and said if they got the Lincoln fixed he was just going to sell it...wasn't worth the hassle having a machine that couldn't be readily repaired. It was a Precision TIG, but I don't recall which model...so not the newest, but not super old.

Under warranty I don't think there's any difference, but after that it doesn't look like Lincoln is doing a good job of keeping inventory on hand. I wonder if that coincides with the switch to making machines in Mexico, or it's just their plan to support machines for around ten years and that's it....hard to say. On the flip side, I've needed a few parts for Miller machines going back easily 30 years and was able to find them...not always cheap, but at least available.

I totally understands the availability of parts can be an issue. I have heard that Lincoln can be more difficult to get repaired. But I don't need this machine to support my livelihood. Urgency is not important. Considering that this machine just recently was released, I pretty sure parts will be available for many years to come. And the price is significant. A complete AC/DC Lincoln with torch, regulator and foot pedal is $3600. The Miller AC/DC machine start at $3700 without anything. Probably another $600 for the torch, regulator and foot pedal.