ESAB 650 vs Hypertherm45

[OklahomaK5]

I've been looking at some Plasma Cutters that are for sale locally. I've come down to the ESAB and Hypertherm.

ESAB is $1375
Hypertherm is $1536

Anyone own either one and have comments. I've only found one post about an ESAB which makes me look harder at the Hypertherm.

[bigtoy302]

Hypertherm are always good. I have a hypertherm 1000 and it is awesome. Also look at availability on consumables. Hypertherms are more common and a lot more stores carry hypertherm parts.

[Wyoming9]

i will also vote For Hypertherm . They as a company are much better to deal with than Esab:D

[Upper2]

I have an ESAB 650 and it is a good machine. Consumables aren't that expensive and I can get them at the local welding supply. The only downside I have with it is you can't use it on a CNC table like Torchmate's. It has to do with the high frequency arc starting or something like that. At some point I plan on trading mine in on a Hypertherm or Thermal Dynamics when I pull the trigger on a Torchmate table.