Hey Archangel,
im looking into getting myself a Miller 252, not a "small welder" but will do everything i need. the Hobart Ironman welder did catch my eye tho. I may have to look deeper into it.
I bought a Hobart Ironman 230 last spring. I bought it used, although the welder had never even been assembled. It was really brand new, just out of the shipping package. (It was one of my few really great stories about buying something from the Internet... not because of price; but, because I got to know the seller.)
I am a novice welder. I welded some stick in high school. (Badly, I might add.) And decided to take MIG lessons earlier this year. I am still rough... very rough.
When looking for a welder, I knew I could probably get by with something like the Hobart 187. That's what we used in the class. It was a great welder. The only thing I didn't like was the duty cycle performance. Once or twice each class the welder would shut down because I was exceeding the duty cycle.
I tend to over-buy tools. I don't know that I'll ever need the 60% duty cycle; but, I knew that it would be capable, even if I was welding a bunch of scrap.
The downside, to me at least, is the larger size of the MIG gun when compared to the 187.
I have only used it for a couple of really small projects... but, I have no regrets about going bigger than I originally planned.
Good Luck
Jeff