I grew up using the radio shack irons and they are ok.
I have a weller wsT2 butane iron that I use when I'm not at my workbench.
I bought a weller wes51 station when I started into this hobby and absolutely love it. It allows me to work quickly and I can turn the heat down a little for smaller stuff and up for the heavier items. It bought a small tip, which is good when the pins are really close together like the led drivers in the aether 2. I'm still using my first tip (the small one) after 2 LE, a freestyle, ~10 SSR, 2 mr16, 2 active hubs, ~30 ssc, 3 EtD, 2 USB dongles, bobcat tester, bobcat servo controller, 3 4-port hubs, 4 splitters, 1 DMX splitter, and a few other things. The tip is still in great shape!