Get ahold of one and try it before you buy one. Most rental yards have some, you might get a demo out of your local Lincoln rep. Some people love em and some people don't.
There are several hundred of them out in 798 land and have been for several years now. The PL welders I know that have them are about 9 to 1 happy with them.
I haven't seen anyone go in the hole with one. They are as fast or faster than they were with their previous machines.
They've proven very reliable over the years. They have a lot of auxillary ac power if that means anything to you.
They'll lift start tig if you do tig work.
I've run other peoples machines on the ROW, and I have a V400 but I haven't put many hours on it yet. I'm really happy with it so far. They seem, to me, to have less of a tendancy toward internal undercut. I really like the way they fill and cap.
I've still got a couple of SA-200's, but this machine appears like it's really going to make me happy, happy.
Lincoln has a remote without 120V for about $380, they have a remote with 120v outlets for just under a grand. Gerald Tidwell makes a very nice remote with 120 outlets for about $500. The Tidwell remote is smaller than a Cable.
JTMcC.
I'll add that they use about 3" more space (width) than a 200 or 300. All servicing is done thru the one sliding access door, that's nice. They have a fuel gage, that's nice too.
Since you mentioned big bore water lines, the Vantages really run wire nice in my opinion, when you are in CV mode your remote becomes a remote voltage control, that's handy.