Some professional soldering stations

[Parak]

In case you solder a /lot/ and actually want something of higher quality than normal with better tip choices:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161772208518
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281757077819
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281757070978

The hakko is okay, but in terms of actual thermal recovery, heat up time and ease of use the Metcals win (but at a higher price). Typical tips for either are somewhere around $10-$15.

Datasheet for the Oki: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/12273.pdf

[XMIT]

I use a Weller WES51. Great bang per buck. It's what my college had in the electronics labs.

I've got my eyes on a professional vacuum desoldering station now.

[Touch_It]

I need to get one down the road sometime.  I've used cheap walmart and radioshack irons and they are ****.  I borrowed some older weller iron from work and even with that the difference was night and day.  I was quite surprised.  seems these sold quick.

[REVENGE]

I've got my eyes on a professional vacuum desoldering station now.

I just used and returned a ZD-985. It's a very useful tool, but be prepared to do a lot of annoying servicing of the heating element / nozzle.

[Parak]

I've got my eyes on a professional vacuum desoldering station now.

If you have access to a compressor, it's hard to do better than a Metcal MX-DS1 handpiece for desoldering. The top end stations that it comes with are the MX-5251 and MX-5250, but they're not for the faint of heart in terms of cost. Without a compressor, you'd probably be looking at a Pace ST115 or similar, which also usually runs a nice chunk of change but as a bonus allows for a decent hot air option too.