Are you using the international warehouse listing on hobbyking?
I just got this, it seems good but i haven’t had time to test it out yet.
It might be a cheaper option for you, for me hobbyking kills the deal by having very expensive shipping on the above station for me to Sweden.
lol. I tried USA East, USA West and International. How much is shipping within the USA from hobbyking? If it costs less to get it from ebay, I’ll go that route or get the one djburkes suggested. I was thinking of picking up that one before seeing the awesome price of the yihua at hobbyking. (I do have a 40W Radio shack iron however, the tip is slowly dissolving away and I refuse to pay $6 plus $4 shipping for a single tip for a, not so great iron. 
so figure that getting a good soldering station is a better option! 
)
I’ve looked at those. I’m a big fan of compact so that digital iron is quite alluring! Please let us know your impressions of it, whenever you get a change to try it out.
First impression is quite good, i haven’t used it yet, but the cable seems good the heater element seems changeable when it wears out, the screw in part that holds the tip and heater looks decent.
What sold me on this was the 8 second heat up time 
and of course that it is compatible with Hakko tips.
I ordered this holder for it also, haven’t got it yet though.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131156004914?\_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I will let you know what i think of it as soon as i get some hours on it or maybe sooner.
I managed to get through the hobbyking checkout process, why are they making it so difficult? the shipping address didn’t work either but eventually they zip was accepted.
couldn’t find spare tips on HK though
thanks to everyone here, the clone looks good
Got it on ” Ebay for $24.99”:YiHua 936 Rework Soldering Station for sale online | eBay At hobbyking the price was just over $31. NO. I don’t know this seller so will have my fingers crossed for the next month! (Ebay—> freight forwarder—> Trinidad—> Customs during Christmas—> Meeeee!)
Thanks everyone for helping me choose
Picked up the same model but from a different vendor. It was free shipping at the time I bought it, now he’s charging $5.99. Similar track record to your eBay vendor.
Lol. Item locations are the same
I’m using the station djburkes listed. I picked it up at Fry’s about two years ago for the same price listed on Amazon (price matched). It’s fairly compact, and it’s been a great little unit. Mine heats up very quickly. No digital temp readout, but once you have the knob adjusted, it works every time.
I picked up some large chisel tips from banggood http://www.banggood.com/900M-T-K-Soldering-Solder-Replacement-Iron-Tip-For-Hakko-936-etc-p-962003.html
No complaints yet. They heat up well, and unlike some bad clones, are at least well-centered.
As many others here on BLF I ordered the Hakko clone from HobbyKing. $17.55 + $8.95 shipping to Denmark. Still waiting for it to arrive. Until now I have been using the cheap Weller WHS-40, which didn't hold heat very well, so I hope the Hakko clone is an improvement.
I also ordered three different genuine hakko tips (I'm not sure if the 900M from fasttech is genuine)
900M-T-I:
T18-D24:
T18-C2
I read somewhere that the T18 series should be better than the 900M. I think they are supposed to be faster at heating up, and holding the heat. They are also a bit more expensive.
If you haven't got "helping hands"
you could build your own. Thats what I'm planning:
Very happy with it.
Yeah i am also planning and have ordered some of those plastic arms to make me a homemade “helping hands”.
I am a bit confused though, i though it was the 900M series of tips that fits the 936 hakko clones.
Does the T18 also fit then? And does the T12 also fit :~
Let us know if the T18s fit. I thought they were just for the hakko fx600/601 and others like those.
Anyone have the Hakko fx600 or 601?
i hope they fit :-) - the Hakko clone from HobbyKing, is a clone of the Hakko 936. So it should fit:
http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID=192,341&PID=4807&Page=1
http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID=192,341&PID=4819&Page=1
Well, I see hakko does say T18 fits the 936. Hopefully the clone follows the genuine 936 close enough to fit.
I sure hope so :-)
Had to search for the fx600 - and found this alternative "review" 
Lol. Interesting.
Any one knows where to get that Hakko 936 clone other than HobbyKing?
HK has got shipping charges higher than the charging station itself to my country, something from Chinaland with free/reasonable shipping would be great to keep the price attractive.
Or are there any other alternatives to it from China?
They are on ebay and local (national) resellers have them too. also on Amazon.
Hobbyking has a warehouse in NL, is that too far from you?