Possibly a bit premature with this, but I'm trying to learn a bit more about welders and want to start practicing. Due to (things) it looks like I may be forced into a position where I need to start doing more of my own fabricating. For my project, I'll need to weld my exhaust together as well as aluminum intercooler/intake pipes.

I know in order to get good aluminum TIG welds AC input is needed. I'd also like to get one that has a foot pedal for ease of use. Cheaper is better, but I'd like to "buy once" and not have to worry about upgrading in the future - Bearing in mind this is just for my own automotive and hobby work so I don't necessarily need a super feature-heavy industrial model. I'd rather spend the extra money on more supplies for practicing than just a fancy unit with settings I won't use.

These are models I'm currently looking at. The Everlast PowerTig looks appealing as it supports AC/DC input and a foot pedal, and is by far the cheapest.

PowerTig 185DV ($775) - https://www.everlastgenerators.com/p...powertig-185dv
PowerTig 200DV ($1180) - https://www.everlastgenerators.com/p...powertig-200dv
PowerTig 250EX ($1360) - https://www.everlastgenerators.com/p...powertig-250ex
PowerTig 210EXT ($1570) - https://www.everlastgenerators.com/p...owertig-210ext
Canaweld 201 Pulse-D ($1500) - https://www.canaweld.com/product/tig-ac-dc-201-pulse-d/

If the 185DV would suffice, that's what I'd like to go with since it's half the cost of most the others. The 210EXT is the most expensive and has specific notes about the wave form control that makes it better with aluminum, but I'm not sure how much mileage I'd get out of something like that.

Thoughts are appreciated, I'm still doing a bit of searching myself but otherwise just want to get this over with so I can start practicing and move on.

 

Did a quick search on the 185DV on YouTube and Instagram, looks like people are able to get some really good results out of it.

Unless there's missing components or something I should consider that aren't included with the 185DV that's included with some of those other welders, which I doubt(?) it looks like the 185DV may be just fine for me.

 

I'm currently making space and adding wiring to acquire one of these this year: AHP AlphaTIG 203Xi – AHP Welders (ahpwelds.com)

A couple of my coworkers have them and have nothing but good things to say.

 

I think I saw some reviews of that one as well when I was searching, the display looks nice.

This is the one that I've decided on, comes with a very nice CK worldwide torch and hose, everything I've seen on it has glowing reviews - (Primeweld TIG225X)
Consensus I got from the FI section, and reinforced just through my own research seems to be to mostly just avoid the cheap multipurpose units. I think any of the TIG welders we've mentioned in this thread would be sufficient for enthusiast use.