Well, I've had this for about 1.5 months. I haven't done tons with it, and haven't tried the TIG. However, what I have done was pushing it pretty darn hard, and I'm very impressed. Had my son-in-law, a professional welder, try it and he was very impressed too.
As for the price difference Amazon to Everlast direct, I have no idea what the difference is, other than I was told it has updated programming.
With respect to serviceability, there are no reliable service depots near me, so that pretty much doesn't factor in. Miller, lincoln, esab, sparc-fart, - doesn't matter. It will have to get shipped out if there is a real problem. The local miller repair shop has had a friend's unit for 6 months now, and hasn't touched it, so I count them out. When they get one of local industries units, there is a slim chance it will get repaired. Usually it comes back cleaned and still defective. All other brands go back to where you bought it, and you pay shipping. The plus with everlast is that they will work with you to solve a problem. I haven't had a problem yet, and may not, but I love the idea of fixing it myself with a little assistance. Knowledge is a good thing.
Items of note:
-The number of settings can be overwhelming. Mess with them one at a time to figure them out. Otherwise, it can be easy to get lost.
-The memory setting are great! When you have a happy setting, save it and you have it later. Just be sure to write down a description for them.
-It does spray transfer very nicely. The supplied gun is a little light, but works. Considering a 36 clone and larger ground and stinger cables.
-It burns 6010, NO PROBLEM, in the right hands. I can run it quite well, having never done it before, and the son-in-law went through several sticks with nary a flame-out or hiccup. He didn't know there was potential difficulties with it until I told him. Even then, he said it felt fine.
-The pulse works great, but takes a while dial in. Once I learn it well, it will be my main process.
-The wire feed is a bit different in that it doesn't take off until an arc is established. It is just another thing to get used to, and no big deal.
-The setting for MIG are NOT straight across the same as a Miller. Well, duh!
I suspect this accounts for some of the naysayers regarding non-miller/lincoln/etc, machines. Folks tend to think something is defective if it doesn't work the same as what they are used to.
-The synergic works very well. Basically set it and forget it. When first trying it, I had the settings out of whack, trying the same as the millers at work(good thing I have spare tips!). Flipping to synergic gave me a good starting point. Synergic is great for basic stuff, until you want to do fine tuning. There are still plenty of settings, but pulse and standard offer way more.
Not related to the machine, but if you have gas shielded flux core, it doesn't work worth a darn without gas. Go on, ask me how I know! Interestingly, if you turn the volts way down, you can get an almost acceptable bead. Just a bead that you could probably peel off with a butter knife.
All in all, a great machine. For what my opinion is worth, I would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking a highly adjustable, versatile, capable and well priced machine. Only time will tell if durability is a factor, but with a 5 year warranty, I'm not too concerned.