If it makes you feel better I have been using my 625ex with the hand torch since last June, works pretty well. I like that I can just turn a screw and use the hand torch to trim something or cut something not on the Crossfire. I would not like having to change torches just to make a few cuts by hand. Unless I hade a second plasma cutter I don’t think I would care for the machine torch if there were not better consumables offered for the machine torch.