So I think that I have decided upon buying Hakko for my soldering station. I am now left with the dilemma on what station to buy. I was wondering if I should go for the "pedestrian" 936 for $80 or the top of the line FX-951 for $225. The digital version of the 936, the 937, is just a few dollars cheaper than the fancier FX-951.
From what I can tell, the FX-951 has more accurate temperature control because the sensor and heating element are all contained inside the tip and it comes to heat in about 10 seconds versus about 30 for the 936. I probably don't care too much about the digital temperature control, what difference does a few degrees make? Of course, the time to recover from cooling is important to me. The 951's tip tray is nicer than the 936's sponge and the iron holder seems really neat - it cools the iron to 200C when you place it in the holder to extend the tip life. The 951's most common tips are about $5-$10 more than the 936's tips.
I guess what I'm asking is, is the FX-951 worth the $145 premium over the 936?
-Jevin