Hello deepwater, one thing to consider having to do with the power comment, most of the inverter type tig machines have the advantage of being both 1 phase and 3 phase compatible and are also auto-link capable for a variety of voltages. If portability is any kind of an issue the inverters are also much easier to deal with when talking about weight and size. My personal opinion is that the ac output of the inverters is also superior to many of the conventional transformer/rectifier machines, especially when it comes to the variable hertz adjustment feature. Well I guess I put in my $.02, Regards, aevald