You can get basic arc welders with just adjustable amps, so, is that enough, or ideally do you need hot start and other extra features to weld to a high quality level? Thanks.
A basic (quality) machine does basic welds just fine.
The add-ons just make things quicker/easier/more consistent/etc.
Unless you have any particular requirements a regular one should be fine.
Although it's commonly regarded as the most basic form of welding achieving true "high quality" arc welds is a skill that requires an expert operator.
Ie, a good operator with a basic set could produce far better welds than I could with a flagship machine.
If you have a fixed budget I'd spend it on quality rather than bells & whistles,
This is not really answering 'do you need the features', but 'why do you see all these features':
Consider the technology used: in the old days, when you had an engine-driven welder-generator, the DC used for welding was produced by rotating a coil in a magnetic field. To do anything additonal to that other than control its 'strength', was difficult and expensive becasue it needed more physical components in the machine.
Today, when many welders are inverter machines, the DC is effectively controlled by a computer. Regulating its 'strength' is three lines of programing in the software. The 'hot start' is another three lines in the program. No extra parts. The incremental cost of offering the features is negligible so they have become 'standard'.
I would draw a parallel to how three phase power is produced in a home workshop: an old style rotary converter gave you 415v three phase, on or off. A modern VFD gives you that, ramp up, ramp down, variable frequency, controlled braking, one-touch reverse. It is all done in software and is so cheap to implement, the expectation of a minimal basic feature set has shifted.
You can get basic arc welders with just adjustable amps, so, is that enough, or ideally do you need hot start and other extra features to weld to a high quality level? Thanks.
Its the welding person who makes the welds high quality or not, the machine can help, they were building nuclear reactors in the 50s with poor kit compared to now but with still high quality welds.
I get your question though, sometimes there are work arounds to certain issues, hot start as an example, as the name suggests its only relevant for a brief second or 2 until your welding, if you had no hot start, you could start 1/4" past your intended start point and burn over your first scratch giving the rod a chance to be burning correctly before you start laying metal on.
That's a fairly good question...
My answer is kinda NO
Welders I have are all basic and simple machines.
The buzz boxes are just buzz boxes, the inverter is just a simple welder with current knob only, and my engine driven too just a simple engine and alternator no fancy electronics.
Back in the days they did exactly the same things we do today with primitive technologies why would we need them?
A guy who borrows little bit of space in the machine shop to do his jobs has a fronius transteel 2500, it has a ton of features etc etc, we try it and none of 8 of us like the thing we all prefer our old bulky and primitive miggatronic 300 welders.
I do prefer the little Telwin mastermig (360 I believe?) cause it's light weight compared to the miggatronic, easier to remove the wire feeder and lay it on the floor but most importantly it has a simple inductance regulation (just plug the lead on 1 or 2) which allows you to weld over head with it.
I didn't try the transpocket to give a better answer to this specific thread but again they weld in position already in 30's why we shouldn't today with a basic inverter?
The only advantage I can see in modern inverter a part from the weight is the power generator compatibility