I spent a year in full time welding school in 1979 and my oldest friends still think I'm an authoritative welding resource. It's hogwash of course but one must try to rise to the occasion and not disappoint entirely. So, one of my oldest friends texted me this evening;

"I'm going to get a welder; I'm thinking a "multi" welder, TIG, MIG, stick. Should I just spend the money and go Miller or look at other brands like Lincoln?"

He has a couple of mid-60s Jag E-Types that are in terrible condition and have been in pieces since 1975; he'll soon retire from a career at the rocket ranch and I suspect that the jags and construction of associated tooling, tables and fixturing constitute the welding focus.

If it's an AC/DC welder than stick is fully covered.
MIG - I wonder what features exist, which ones are worth while for a middling hobbiest, and more importantly, which ones have wire feeders that are less troublesome than others and for which spares are readily available.
TIG - Same question. I recall that high frequency start and a foot pedal were important but I think that selectable power pulsation would require more skill than he'll probably develop. We had a single Hobart Cyber TIG in school but I was just as happy with the Miller machines.

Certainly I'll go look at what's on offer and review my old welding text for some basic refresher info but what the heck do I tell him?