Plasma Cutters

Hi All
Would like to know what sort of Plasma Cutter people would go for if buying new.
Want a good quality machine up to about 2K roughly but know very little about them.
I know you can get them with on board compressors etc but know stuff all else about them.
Would like single phase as it is for my brother in law as a christmas present and does lots of on site mobile welding etc and does me plenty of favours hence me wanting to spend this much on him but I want to get him the right machine as well.
Your thoughts would be most appreciated
Regards
Stewy

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Originally Posted by Stewy

... it is for my brother in law as a christmas present ...

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Sorry can't really help as I don't know much about them either ... but do you have another sister who is single? :)

Your BIL is a lucky bloke.

I asked a similar question a month or so ago.
The best with in-built compressor seems to be the Lincoln PC210
Without, the best regarded brand seems to be Hypertherm.

That's the easy bit.
Having said that I'd be really wary about buying the BIL one of these without speaking to him first because the capacity of units under $2k is limited. The PC210 will go to around 8mm (10 on ext. compressor), and the Hypertherm Powermax30 goes to 10mm as well. He may well want to chip in a bit to get a size up for better versatility. Perhaps get him a voucher for one of better welding shops in town?

Michael