Hello Chris, the Miller Dynasty 200 DX is certainly a fine machine for just about any sort of welding that you would want to do, the Thermal Arc GTSW machines are also fine machines that would accomodate you well, I am not familiar enough with the ESAB version of these types of machines to comment on them. You may or not have seen the posts concerning the Lincoln line of inverter type AC/DC tig welding machines, there have been some issues with these that would make me want to shy away from them until Lincoln resolves the bugs. I would tend to shy away from any sort of off brand machine unless you have reliable information regarding their performance, dependability, and availability of service and parts. The tig machine is a great way to go when you are considering roll cage work and bike building endeavors, as far as boats go you may want to tend more towards a wire feed system of some sort, typically boat building requires a considerable amount more welding and tig is not generally the most economically suited to this task, that is not to say that it can't be done or that portions of the boat couldn't benefit from the tig process. Personally, I would not opt for the Econotig or a Lincoln Squarewave 175 if I had the finances to afford the Miller 200 Dynasty or a like machine, in my opinion the additional features and capabilities of the inverters far outweighs the financial difference. One way to look at this is to consider that the Econotig and the Squarewave 175 are pretty much entry level type machines, the Dynasty and other inverter types are upper end machines with plenty of room for you to expand your skills and capabilities without having to buy a new machine. Hope this helps. Regards, aevald
hey chris, i too am still in school myself and have been already looking around the web. millers website is very informative reagarding their products,and from what i see , their machines seem to be the best in reliability and product awareness. although at this point budget concerns fro me are formost, i probably will go with a miller myself with the idea of uprgradeability in the future, which to me makes the miller systems more attractive even though upfront more costly but not in the long run . good luck!!