Originally Posted by
TheRulesLawyer
Biggest difference between my radio shack special and a 'descent' iron for me is just the instant heat, and its easier to handle since it offboards the bulky stuff to a box. Both work. Though for like $30 you can get a digital one from china..
That makes sense, it takes a couple of minutes for the cheapo iron to heat up, I usually plug it in first, then it is typically ready to go by the time I walk to the opposite end of the house to moisten the sponge, so no real loss of time in my case, but when at the race track if trying to make a quick repair when seconds make the difference, it can certainly be justification to have an iron that heats up within seconds
