What soldering iron, and where to buy one?

[levi]

Regarding the stand sensor, I'd worry that means I couldn't use my own stand. I've had the same stand for decades now, and it still rocks. It's an idea though - a few hobbyists dial down their irons when they're not actively soldering, which is where an analogue dial or user configurable presets come into their own, but I suspect I'd be a little frustrated by the iron not being ready when I pick it up if there's no way of advance notifying it that I'm about to start working after a break. I wouldn't worry about power use too much - 60W is still only 250ma at UK voltages (plus transformer losses, of course). Having your iron on *and heating* for 8 hours a day is only equivalent to using your electric cooker for less than ten minutes, at least going by fuse ratings.

 

[Binky]

I'm more worried about tip corrosion that electricity usage.

And assuming the stand sensor is a single wire which is shorted to earth by the iron, it shouldn't be hard to get working with other stands.

Dialling down the temperature when not in use is a good idea, but only if such an action is convenient - I'm not convinced that it is with these new fewer-buttons-means-better-UX designs.

Why can't I just have one button for every operation I need to perform.

• hotter
• colder
• preset 1
• preset 2
• preset 3
• program preset
• toggle on/off

That's an extra four buttons. Costing £1 tops.