I know this is an old thread, but I'm always happy for a good ol baptist thread revival.
I've been running a Hero Cut from amazon that I picked up with spare components for under $200. Still on the same set of consumables (probably under an hour of use over the past year). Had to swap on a different plug to use my 220V in the shop. Been running it off of the cheap 20gal HF compressor with no complaints. Been meaning to put a longer, heavier duty cord on it, but the cord length hasn't become an issue yet, and I've checked how much it was heating up after harder use and it was still room temp.
You get what you pay for, and I'm sure I'd love a hypertherm. I don't use it enough to justify the more expensive one, and have been nothing but impressed with that cheap of a unit.
