Hakko FX951-98 Soldering Station

If you're looking for a solid station without the JBC price tag, this is the next best thing. You'll be glad you spent the little extra money for this station although the controls are a bit weird.

I have been using the Aoyue 2930 for years and decided to upgrade to the 9378, but I couldn't get a controller that had the LED panel correctly installed (all 3 were barely hanging in place and floppy around). So I gave up and used my Christmas bonus to go with the Hakko 951setup with the tip cleaner (FT710-04). What a difference in my ability to solder hours on end, but also the quality of the solder points were definitely cleaner and consistently the same. My work was stepped up in quality; customer noticed the difference and that's what was most important to me. All these years and it wasn't my skill level, but the quality of the equipment I've been using; made me very happy and feeling very stupid at the same time. A bigger chunk of cash, but worth every penny.