i just received a reply from the people at WilTec they do the distribution in europe for the Aoyue brand or so it seems..
So yesterday i contacted them with this email;
Dear Aoyue,
I'm contacting you because i'm interested in your products but unsure of the quality control and find the number of good in depth reviews of your hardware lacking. I live in The Netherlands and i'm looking to buy a new soldering and desoldering sollution. i'm looking to buy Hakko or Aoyue pretty much all other brands are out.
Last couple of weeks soldering irons have bin a hot topic on EEVblog youtube channel and EEVblog forums.
The question raised is "New vs old technology". The newer being the soldering tips that house the heating element all in one tips vs the older ones that have a separate heating element and tip.
Dave from EEVblog does good job covering this simple yet complex subject of which one is better. in most cases like everything in life it depends on the use case but still there are clear advantages to the models that have the heating element and tips all in one. The Hakko FX-951 costs around €280 vs the Hakko FX-888D €98. while you sell the Leadfree soldering station int2900 digital for €63 ....
In all the comparisons Dave does on EEVblog he is comparing the Hakko FX-888D & JBC CD-2B & Weller WE1010.
But in my opinion there is a good option missing in this comparison and that's the "Aoyue 2900".
Therefore my question is why don't you send him a station to do an in depth review???
i don't know if he is willing to do the review and if youre able to send him a station at all but in my humble opinion Aoyue needs a bit more coverage and mentions in discussions about which soldering irons to buy...
videos mentioned:
EEVblog #1063 - Weller WE1010 vs Hakko FX888D Soldering Station
#https://youtu.be/tlKg6rSMPEs
EEVblog #1064 - Soldering Irons OLD vs NEW
#https://youtu.be/scvS2yeUH00
EEVblog #1065 - Soldering Iron Power Delivery Explained
#https://youtu.be/yyt0X2CGDRM
With regards
Their response was;
Dear Customer,
Thank you for your friendly e-mail.
I´m really sorry but we can´t sent test-station to everybody who want to test it and make a review of it.
Have a nice day.
Für Rückfragen stehe ich Ihnen gerne zur Verfügung.
If you require any further information, feel free to contact me.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen aus Eschweiler
Best regards from Germany
Nicole Lingens
Ahh well
It's all ok everyone is free to do what's best for them.. i will have to base my next purchase with the info i have and can find.
So for now it's looking like Aoyue is loosing from what i'm reading..