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I could not be happier with this iron. It fit my prototyping bill perfectly and will continue to until the US changes its power standards! (That's a very long time!!)
For SMD work, the tip this unit comes with is just fine. If you work with finer pitch than 65mil, I recommend the 0.01" tip. Otherwise, you should be quite happy with some fine solder, a little flux (Sparkfun?s flux pen is excellent and lasting), and a pair of tweezers.
I use pair of hemostats to hold desolder braid and some regular small-tipped tweezers to manipulate my parts. Leaded or lead free is no issue, just make sure you meet any standards as needed. The unit comes with a sponge ? use it! Drop some water on the sponge; then before you use the iron, dab the tip on the sponge! A clean tip is a happy tip! Before you replace it in the holder again, tin your tip with a dot of solder then a wipe on the sponge. Do this and your $15 tips can last as long as possible.- ted

This thing heats up fast. I now regret every cheap soldering Iron I have ever bought. I turned it on and it was hot and ready to go before I could get everything in place to solder. Most of the work I do is small but waiting for an iron to heat up was always the worst part. I bought the digital because it wasn't much more money. I'd think the analog would be just is good. Do not waste your time with a cheap iron even if you use it a handful of times a year. I'm actually looking forward to trying some surface mount work now.

Well made, the 0.1mm tip is ultra-precise and changing tips is very easy. The iron-holder / receptacle has a weird design that makes it very hard to insert the pencil in a stable position. Typically it flops down one way or the other and often results in the tip coming into contact with the protective metal shield (you can actually see this happening in the picture above).

I bought one of these last year and I think I'm sorry now. Can't find any tips for it.

As someone else noted, the beep on this unit is REALLY loud. If you open it up, you can replace the piezzo's current limiting resistor R31 with a higher value resistor to lower the volume. I swapped the factory 55 ohm resistor for a 330 ohm resistor and now I'm no longer annoying everyone in the building.

This is a super easy mod, but don't attempt it unless you have a second soldering iron!

As someone else noted, the beep on this unit is REALLY loud. If you open it up, you can replace the piezzo's current limiting resistor R31 with a higher value resistor to lower the volume. I swapped the factory 55 ohm resistor for a 330 ohm resistor and now I'm no longer annoying everyone in the building.

This is a super easy mod, but don't attempt it unless you have a second soldering iron!

I came up with a solution to the issue of the iron coming into contact with the shield when in the stand. It turns out it's only slightly touching it, so if the shield were a bit higher it would not come in contact. I did this by unscrewing it, getting a pair of longer bolts and adding 7 washers on each side. this raises the shield so it no longer contacts the iron. Problem solved.
It was a slight pain to get everything to stay so I started by taping the bolts in place on the underside, then adding the washers while upright and then putting in the shield. Then one by one, I dropped a nut in place, untaped the bolt and drove it home. Worked pretty well...

This looks great - Maybe i'll buy it to put together my Soldering Iron kit!

I had the opportunity to purchase this iron at another well-known, online site for about $20 less, but I didn't. Why? Because of the comments I read whenever looking at products like this, specifically the courteous and genuinely concerned responses from SparkFun employees anytime a negative comment is posted. To me, this spoke of great customer service, and I throw my business to any company who treats their customers so well.
Boy, am I glad I did.
For it turns out that I got an out-of-the-box, dead-on-arrival lemon. I was so psyched: I had several projects that were half-finished and would be a cinch to take care of with this iron...or so I thought. I connected the tip, mounted the cable to the unit, plugged it into the outlet, smiled, took a deep breath, flipped the switch, and nothing. Absolutely nothing. No amount of unplugging, replugging, unseating, reseating, praying fervently or shouting intensely did anything to bring it back to life. It was dead, Jim.
That was on a Friday. I called SF the following Monday. I fully expected to get the standard the-customer-undoubtedly-broke-it interrogation that most of us expect without thinking. I also expected that I would be told that I would not get a replacement until the first one was received, verified to be in good order, with original packaging, etc. I was ready for a really unpleasant hassle.
That turned out to be totally unnecessary. Lindsey, the customer service rep who took my call said in her very first sentence: "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work for you; let me send you another one right now." Wow. I was stunned. It arrived Wednesday afternoon. I was bowled over by the absolutely outstanding customer service! Honestly, I can't remember the last time a company treated me the way I should be treated. I am most definitely a loyal customer now, and am really, really pleased with SparkFun.
OK, as to the iron itself. the second one I received is almost miraculous as others have stated. Just a few seconds after turning it on, you will hear the beep letting you know that the tip has reached a temperature of 350 degrees! This thing is a joy to use. It is a precision instrument, with the peak temperature delivered to the very tip of the iron. Soldering the tightly spaced legs of a chip was a breeze. Normally I worry about solder bridges or overheating it and ruining it (both of which I have done in the past). Not with this unit. touch the tip, touch the solder--bam, you're done, move to the next leg. Seriously, it is that quick: a nice solid joint delivered quickly and precisely.
I love this unit, and it is worth every bit of the $99.
Also, if any SparkFun execs read this post, GIVE LINDSEY A RAISE! Seriously, she was great.

this thing is BEAUTIFUL I've been using a 15 dollar radio shack iron for a while now and it seemed like a big cost difference to jump to this but it was worth every penny and then some. If your not soldering beginner kits anymore you need this iron or something equivalent.

This is a great iron. I have been making do with a Weller SP12 (not a bad unit, but still not temperature controlled, and only 12 watts), but this iron is awesome.
I was quite pleased that the tips slid in and out rather than screwing on, and the heating element is inside the tip, not the handle. This makes it much less likely for the tip to work it's way into the handle due to heat cycling (like the SP12 does after a few months of constant use).
For those ordering extra tips, this iron (70W digital) is an Aoyue Int 2900.
http://www.aoyue.com/en/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=327
The plastic tube with removable caps is the axle to hold the solder spool on the soldering iron stand.
Also, you will need to keep the base unit at least a foot away from an oscilloscope if you have one. The base unit can emit enough EMI/EFI to make the scope show weird stuff as it is heating and maintaining.

Got mine yesterday, and put together the capacitance meter kit in an hour or so. The soldering station impressed me greatly, starting from when I turned it on to when I was done.
I set it up, and turned it on, then when to grab my supplies and tools. Before I had even started picking stuff up off the shelf a few feet away, it beeped, saying it had reached 350 degrees. Shockingly fast warmup. And it did a flawless job on the rest of the project.
The handle never so much as warmed up, and it's nice and light and easy to use. The cord back to the base is just the right stiffness, so that it doesn't tangle up with itself, and yet it moves easily out of the way, without tugging on the handle.
SO very very glad I got this. Only need a few more tools now, and I'll have a great workbench.

when are u stocking 220v one

Does the digital display show the actual temperature of the tip, or the setpoint?

I have has some problems with this unit. As others have mentioned, the stand doesn't hold the iron properly so it flops around. I removed the metal shield so it wouldn't cool the tip. Also the adjust buttons are too small and don't make contact very well. The display goes haywire when changing the temperature making it impossible to tell what temp you've just passed until you release the button. The tips don't make good electrical contact in the grip, so the unit can suddenly into an error mode showing "UUU" in the middle of soldering a joint. The only way to fix this is to wiggle the tip in the handle, but it happens every 5th or 6th joint. This unit is definitely better than any simple soldering iron, but for $99 it is over priced for the quality.

I just got this iron with the 0.1mm tip. It works so much better than my old dual power radioshack iron. It only takes a few seconds to heat to 350C (which it defaults to when you turn it on.) It also makes a loud, short beep when it hits the desired temperature, which is nice, but can also be a little annoying. When you hold the temp adjust arrows, the screen flickers a little, but it's not a major issue. Also, for anyone wondering what that metal thing on the side of the iron holder is - it's for holding your tips. There are 6 slots in it.
Overall, this is a great iron and definitely worth the price.

What's the difference between this one and this one http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-2900-Lead-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ZPUKQ4

there is one curiosity with this system though... what exactly is the rubbery pad for? i don't know what to do with the damn thing

i was hesitant at first to go all out and pay $100 for a soldering iron when i was still on radioshack throw-aways, but after a project took me through 4 radioshack irons in about 30 days, i decided to give a real soldering iron a try. i have to say, this is one of those tools that, after using it for the day, you wonder how you ever got along without it. i've been using this bad boy for about a month now and i couldn't be happier with it.

this thing heats up in a matter of seconds (initial heat-up ~10-15 seconds, re-heating-up ~1-2 seconds)
having the soldering iron as a lightweight extension from the base is awesome -- i can comfortably hold it like a pencil to hit those small areas. also the holster for the soldering iron with sponge and stuff isn't attached, so i can have the station on the edge of my table and move the holster around easily to where i need it.
the soldering tips cool off quickly with this soldering iron too, so i can change out to the 0.1mm tip easily rather than trying to solder the smaller pads with a bigger tip to avoid cool-off and heat-up times
if you're on the edge about buying a real soldering station like i was, let me assure you that you'll be glad you took the plunge. it's worth every penny

Can I use leaded Solder with this iron or does it have to be lead-free?
That last paragraph kinda confused me.

I recently bought this iron and think it is great!! No more $10 irons for me. Buy it you won't be disappointed.

Hi, I posted this comment to the analog version as well, but my station is clearly labeled "100-130V" on the back and on the box (there is also a check box for 210-240V on the box that is not checked) so I don't think it would be a good idea to plug it into 220V. The specifications say "110V or 220V", which I'm guessing means they make two different versions with different transformers.

Looks like a good iron. Is this ever going to be back in stock?

I've used quite a few soldering irons, but this one is by far the best.
It goes from room temp to max in under 20 sec.
Its very lightweight (it feels more like your holding a marker then an iron).
The tips last x10 longer then any budget iron.
If your thinking of buying this iron do it, you wont regret it.

I wonder if this one can work at 220AC for european current?. Maybe have some switch to select?