Hi all,
I actually posted to one of the review threads listed above and think that the "Cold Heat" iron isn't that bad.
Don't expect to be using it for fine electronics soldering though.
As I mentioned in my review post, I used it to solder the wiring harness of a car stereo that I installed. For this type of job, it works perfectly. I was able to solder the wires when needed, without waiting for the iron to heat up. It took only a couple of seconds to make a good, solid joint and handled the entire job with plenty of power to spare.
I was also able to set the iron down on the passenger seat within 10 seconds after using it. Which was very handy since I didn't have all of the wires stripped and prepped, nor did I have all of the heatshrink slipped in place beforehand. I also had to switch wires when I discovered that the wire color chart in the instructions had the left and right channels reversed.
So while this isn't the best tool to use for ESD sensitive components, or components attached to large heatsinks, it's not a bad product either.
Regarding tip life.. I've had this tool for a while now and have only broken one tip. This happened when I dropped the iron, tip first onto my marble floor. The key here, is to remember that pressing harder will get you nowhere with this tool. The idea is to solder with the tip as close to the joint as possible and let tip melt the solder and the solder transfer heat to the pieces to be joined.
I generally don't use it for most jobs, since I have a soldering station right at my desk. But it does replace my butane iron in my travel tool case.
pb