If you dont have a soldering iron, the pinecil should be your first, and potentially it will be your last, because you really dont need that much more unless you're gonna be doing microsoldering every day, and you might even find it works for that too.
The tips are a bit expensive, but the default is good enough for most things. Being able to power it off USBC C PD is the best ever, at this point "portable" stations that don't do this are embarrassing themselves.
The barrel jack is a nice to have but i havent found a need for it. If youre a drone person and have batteries and connectors its probably handy but a usb pd gan charger is gonna do you ust fine. I recommend 60 watts which will get you borderline if not optimal performance already, but ive been able to do reasonable soldering jobs on 30 watt blocks as well which surprised me. Its definitely not ideal but it works and i really appreciate that they didnt cut it off at lower wattages.
I also have a 65 watt brick and that works indistinguishably from my 100 watt wall charger and makes the set up even more portable.
I really cant say enough good things about this. Its still somehow cheaper than the much less versatile entry level soldering stations that I still sometimes go back to and immediately wonder why I didnt just grab the pinecil. You will have to get some accessories to make it a portable "station" so add on a couple bucks for some tip cleaning supplies, really you just need a sponge and some water if you dont wanna get a metal wick. You can really build out a nice little custom portable kit to surround this and still be around the same price as a larger station.
The main con is finding a good stand so you dont have to just set down the tip horizontally. But i haven't burned myself doing this yet, and it has a 10 min off timer so do as you will.
| Brand | PINE64 |
|---|---|
| Specific Uses For Product | Residential Use |
| Power Source | Corded Electric |
| Wattage | 36 watts |
| Special Feature | Portable |
| Included Components | USB |
| Handle Material | Stainless Steel |
| Style | Pencil |
| Item Length | 155 Millimeters |
| Item Weight | 60 Grams |
| Upper Temperature Rating | 400 Degrees Celsius |
| Burner type | Ceramic |
| UPC | 850796007840 |
| Manufacturer | PINE64 |
| Part Number | PINECIL-BB2 |
| Item Weight | 2.12 ounces |
| Item model number | PINECIL-BB2 |
| Size | Small |
| Material | stainless_steel, pine, iron, carbon |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Head Style | soldering tip |
| Special Features | Portable |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
