I just bought a Lincoln 180c which cost 1550 all up with the welder, auto darkening helmet, wire, gas hire the lot. 180Amp max and up to 8mm plate. Can buy a handheld aluminium spool to do aluminium work with which was also quite appealing. Very portable and has been real easy to weld with, even for a hack like myself. Portable also which i didnt like about the larger cigweld units. I pondered over it for months and in the end i just went for a welder that i would get the most use out of. Might consider buying a decent TIG welder down the track but want to work out how much ill actually use it.
Another major consideration was the grinding and cutting involved with using the welder quite a bit as the neighbours can get rather shirty with all the noise. stuff em in the end, i spose