Desoldering Recommendations Nowadays

I know the Hakko 808 used to be very popular, but is now discontinued. Anyone have some good recommendations on a desoldering solution? Whether Hakko or knock off equivalent

 

I use X-tronic 4040 and it works well and takes the Hakko tips and has proven to be durable, hell I left the damn iron on for 2 days and when I came back (I forgot I left it on!!) the element still works and the tip too.

 

Hakko FR-300. Love it. Permanent spot on my bench.

 

I use Aoyue 474A+
https://www.google.pl/#q=aoyue+474a+

 

I use the YIHUA 968DB+

http://slot1gamer.com/reviews/tools-electronics-gear/yihua-968db-review/

 

Where do you find them for ~$99? I can't even see anything that cheap on aliexpress...

 

I've never done hot air desoldering, only using a pump, do you need to combine it with braid to remove the solder I assume?

 

I've always used those cheap Radio Shack desoldering tool. It has vacuum bulb attached and for through hole devices (and for ridiculously large solder blobs) it works fine for me. It doesn't work for SMD chips.

I gave up on solder braid years ago. They do work but it usually takes a lot of heat because the braid acts like heat sink and if you snip it short, you need something like pliers to hold the braid without burning fingers. And in the end there's risk of damage to the PCB or chips due to excess heat.

 

On ebay Australia (it was $99 plus calculated shipping but now its a flat $119, I'll have to fix the review)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-In-1-S...28?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item58a14a7b34