I got these because my old soldering station is rated for a 450 max temp. I like this new station because it (1) heats up to 800+ in seconds, (2) has solid build quality as you won't feel like this thing is going to fall apart in a few weeks, and (3) contains many extras such as different soldering tips and solder. This would be great for a beginner who needs all of that plus a bit of flow. Some things could be improved. At first I thought there was no power button looking at the front and back. It's on the right. The soldering tip cleaning jar tends to pop out of the base as it's a little big and I didn't even touch it. It needs a little filing on the side to make it fit snugly. The power cord cannot be removed. Overall I'm very happy with it.