I've been using my new Weller WES51 for a couple of months now and have been pretty impressed with it. I've gone through many disposable irons over the years and had not appreciated how much of a difference a better soldering iron could make.

Prior to the Weller, I had gone through multiple cheap (i.e. $10 or less, part of a larger set of tools, etc.) soldering irons. My main problem with the cheap irons is that they simply didn't last very long before the tips needed replacement. Unfortunately, replacement tips were not cheap and it usually made more sense to buy a new iron than replace the tips given the condition of the old iron and the fact that it seemed that a new model of tip had often been introduced to replace the old one every time I needed a new one.

I've read about Weller irons for years and had convinced myself (foolishly) that they weren't worth the money. So when my last iron gave up the ghost, I bought a Weller WES51 mainly due to my disgust with how quickly my last iron died (less than a week!)

Some things that surprised me about the Weller:

1. It's comfortable to hold.... really comfortable. I was surprised to notice the difference between my old 'burner' irons and the Weller. I had to constantly put the other irons in the holder to avoid burning my hand. Not once has my hand gotten even uncomfortably warm with the Weller even during long soldering sessions.
2. The tip is still in excellent condition after usage that would have gone through at least a couple of tips on cheaper irons (if not the irons as well by now).
3. Changing tips is incredibly useful. I bought a couple of extra tips (and there are many to choose from) when I bought the Weller not really believing I'd actually ever use them. However, I recently decided to take a shot at soldering some SMT components (successfully!) which I never would have attempted with a standard size tip.
4. It comes up to temperature very quickly and has a handy LED indicator to tell you when it's ready. With my previous irons, the fact that they often took several minutes before they were ready to use (and by the time they were, the handle was usually uncomfortably warm) was one of several reasons that resulted in my accepting that soldering was an unpleasant task to be minimized. With the Weller, I find often I'll use it for quick soldering jobs partly because it is ready for use so quickly after being turned on.

Before purchasing the WES51, I did some research and found some complaints about WESD51 units being DOA or dying within a relatively short timeframe. While it wasn't a terribly large number of complaints, I wasn't convinced that there was much of a benefit in going digital vs. analog. Also, I didn't want the potential hassle of needing to send in the unit for warranty repairs if it could be avoided, so I opted to go with the WES51 and have been happy with the decision on what I now view as a moderately priced soldering station.