I used to work for Metcal aka OK industries we though our were the best built. we were catering to PCB production rework but the machines were still for individual stations.
I have a Pace ST115 for maybe 10 years now, never had any problem with it.
I have a Aouye Int3210 soldering station. -> http://www.aoyue.com/en/product/default.asp?id=39
Not the cheapest one (85€ in germany), but I have it now for ~5 Years and never had a problem with it.
very flexible cable, fast heating, digital display, shuts itself down if you forget it - and the tip is still the first one.
This is one of several. I made the enclosure as I had a 36’ Pexto shear and a 24” Pexto box and pan brake at the time. The tube that holds the iron is electrical conduit pipe. Metal this time. Inside, connected to the switch is a simple diode that allows me to switch to half power. The other side has another switch so that I can run 2 irons at a time. 1 on full and the other on half. The panel lights are old school Neon. I made this 45 years ago.
The handle is an Ungar and the heating element I got years ago at Radio Shack, back when they sold QUALITY. The RS part number is Archer 64-2082, 33 1/2 watts, really an Ungar part though. The tip is an Ungar “iron clad”. I remember the copper ones didn’t last long, but these iron clad ones seemingly last forever. They can be found on EBay
I also have a Weller soldering gun, several large irons and a Black and Decker iron and station. The B+D station is JUNK.
EDIT: The lettering was rubbed on one letter at a time from sheets that you could buy, I think in art supply stores. I have forgotten what it was called. I used it for everything, from labeling cassettes to electronic equipment. Life was hard in those days!
I just remembered, it was Letraset lettering.
Here is a bit of an update. I have been looking over all of the options suggested and greatly appreciate all of the help guys. Thank you.
2 of the main ones I have been looking at are the genuine Hakko, and the Weller.
Right now I am leaning toward the WES51. It has the type of tip holder I like and keep seeing it come up good in reviews. I would sort of like to have one that is more than 50 watt, but as best I can tell to bump up to the next level you get to pay 3x times the price.. $300+ range.
This is what I was thinking in the 50 watt
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station-with-Chisel-Screwdriver-Tip-Bundle-/381005859772?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58b5b80bbc
Comes with a few tips.
My preferred tip is ETU for tiny work. It's length is short (compared to the ETS), so the path from heater to tip is short. I think its the same length as the ETA,B,C and D - just pointier.
Also look into getting a little tin of soldering tip tinner. I like the tin I have, but the label has been off for years so I don't know what to recommend! (I don't like MG Chemicals Tin/Silver FWIW) Just be sure to wipe off the residue left from the tinner (it is corrosive), you don't want that stuff left on your board. I fear that what I have pre-dates the No-Lead era and that's why it works so well.
Anyone have a suggestion for tip tinner?
EDIT: perhaps eBay # 291288300550
i love my weller ws40 its not that pricy and it does very wel have light to medium soldering (you maybe could do some havy soldering, but i dont think is has enough power to do that)
I use ETS for most projects. I will have to look at ÉTU. Just tin the tip with solder.
I’ve got this constant temperature Weller WTCPT 60W station http://www.amazon.com/WTCPT-Temperature-Controlled-Soldering-Station/dp/B00004W463. Got it in like new condition on ebay (fingers were crossed) several years ago for around $80 (had to wait a bit). It’s been good to me, but no real reference to other stations other than a not so hot WLC100. Prices have gone up for new ones I see, from when I was looking.
I use a PACE PRC-2000. It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fires! A fully loaded new one from Pace will set you back about $6000. I can set you up with one for around 1/10th that amount.
Sign me up!
(Oops did I quote that incorrectly?) My bad! 
There is a very good video comparison/review of the YiHua 936 vs the Hakko 936 here. This is a good video to learn of some of the considerations to consider when looking at any soldering station.
Even though Hakko has now updated to a newer version one can get a good idea about these soldering stations and what to look for in others.
Best wishes and tell us what you finally choose.
EDIT: There is about $60-70 difference between the YiHua 936 and the latest Hakko. The Hakko FX888D does not seem to be that much better but still it is better.
Dave's EEVBlog review of the YiHua 936
HobbyKing website - good prices for YiHua (<$19.00)
This information is being posted for those in the future who stop by and read soldering station information on this thread. The YiHua is not recommended but not totally awful either.
I had to look up that PRC-2000 and it is pretty crazy. Probably way more than what I need, but it is pretty cool. If I was doing packages bigger than SOIC-8 on a regular basis I might consider it 
.
Try JBC soldering and you will never touch anything else JBC. Mine is T245.
Ergonomic handle, very fast reaction, hot swapable tips, warmup from cold in a couple of seconds, standby/sleep timers. Pleasure to work with.
I heard on the grapevine TP is going to donate one to you as a thanks for all the hard work your doing here. I knew all along he was a nice guy.
Ok, I finally got around to ordering my new station. I went with the WES51.
Got it for $90 buck shipped here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141291544640
Finding a useful set of tips for this older machine was a bit more of a challenge. All of the asorted "packs" I found were full of stuff I will never use.
I did fine one source that has nearly every tip made here.
Brands - Weller | Test Equipment Depot
Prices on the tips themselves were very reasonable ( about $3 each for the ETs). No cheap shipping options though $15 dollar fedex. Still worth it to get several of what I wanted and none of what I dont.
I will post again once I try it out.
Cool to hear. Let us know what you think.
After what was probably thousands of hours of use, one of my original Yihuas finally started to die on me a few weeks ago. I never imagined that a $25 (shipped!) station would last so long--I've built hundreds of lights and stacked thousands of chips with that station. I've still got my second one as my backup unit.
I splurged this time and bought the Hakko FX-951 station. It is pretty nice (lighter soldering pencil, sleep mode, etc.) and it has a little better thermal performance than the FX-888D, but there's no way to justify the price tag compared to the FX-888D (I'd rather have two FX-888Ds than a single FX-951). It is a bit nicer to use, and that's about it.
Honestly, I can do the same quality of work with all three irons--with the main difference being the level of comfort and a tiny bit of speed difference.
Ok, I still have not had this station quite long enough to declare it a miracle, but my first impressions after a couple weeks of use are leading me that direction.
1. I would say the number one thing I like about this station above all the others I had is the pencil itself. Its very light weight and thin. Very comfortable to handle, and unlike the all the others I had is seems quite durable. It has a metal shaft what appears to be all the way down into the handle. The other cheapo stations I had this was always the first thing to break.
2. GETS HOT FAST!!!. I would say about 20 times faster than any other iron I have ever had including other wellers. It will literally wet solder within 30 seconds ( depending on the tip used) and is fully heated in 1-2 min.
No other iron or station I have ever had came anywhere near this regardless of claimed wattage etc.
3. Its HOT. I run this at about 70% power most of the time. Almost never have to turn it up. Much hotter than other stations that claimed higher wattage.
4. Tips are easy to change, and come in a good variety.
I will revisit this thread when I have used it a while longer, but so far so good.
Light irons are usually not a good thing… They don’t have the thermal capacity to handle tasks like soldering to an object like a big wire or a LED star on a heavy pill/heatsink.
No pictures of your new and improved soldering abilities?