Thanks for your reply.  I currently am running on one my rigs a Ranger 250 of the early version with about 1900 hours on it now.  No real problems except for some corrosion on the connector to the exciter board controlling high idle while using 110V and of course the dreaded high altitude, hot day vapor lock that eevery diaphragm fuel pump air cooled engine I have ever had has done.  Aside from that the machine has been awesome and Lincoln has done a good job of correcting those maladies in the early units with new enclosed weather proof circuitry and an additional electric fuel pump as supply to the diaphragm pump.  No more electric pump retrofits.  I am just getting to that point where I have depreciated this machine to zero and would like to sell it and replace it with new and this time opt for the new extended warranties.  Where I live welder repair guys are both expensive and rather poor in performance.  I haul my two bigger machines 1100 miles to California for repairs when needed.  The Ranger 250  and the 305 along with others in that class are good options for sure for the light weight , low cost (coparatively), and small footprint on your truck.  I echo Sourdough's sentiments that the lighter weight and less room consumed is sure helpful for wear and tear on rather expensive trucks.  I travel at least 150 miles every work day so vehicle wear is signifcant.  I am just researching others opinions and experiences,  As I am not a pipeliner, so I don't see the need for a big grey machine although they do weld really nice.  They are just a little cumbersome when the time comes to take that machine off the truck and haul it to the roof of a thirty story building for some remodel work.  Or worse yet put it on the back of a snowcat and haul it up a ski run to repair gondola bull wheels.
The ideal machine as I am thinking at this moment would marry the unbelieveable  arc characteristics of lets say a SA-200 with the tenacity of a Miller 55G or Big 50, lite weight like the Ranger 250, powerful and smooth like the Honda engine on the thermal arc predator 275 and most important quiet like the Lincoln 300 DLX with it's sound absorbing cabinet.  Oh yeah it would be really cool if had AC along with the DC features as offered on both the Miller and Lincoln air cooled machines such as the Ranger 250 or the Trailblazer 250..  Yup all this for about $4000.00 to your door and still be able to air arc all day long for about 2500 hours worth without tearing up the machine.  Please feel free to add you personal requirements to list and lets see if some at the red or blue camps responds.