Let's talk welders, specifically Saker welders

If I was to buy a machine, I would get on Facebook marketplace and find a used Lincoln tombstone welder. You can find them anywhere from about $200 to around $400 or so. I started out my career as a welder and before I started doing it in the plants, I was working for a small company that wasn’t a welding company but for some reason took on a huge welding job. They had nothing geared toward welding, and bought some cheap, used machines. Some lasted a day(literally), but they bought 1 Lincoln tombstone that I welded with pretty much nonstop for 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week, and it was still running perfect the day I quit.
After that, I always said that would be the machine I would buy if I ever had a need for one.

Wire or stick?

What kind of welding do you anticipate doing? Will it be in a shop, outside, both? That may lead you to a particular process which, in turn, can help you make a more informed selection about what welder to buy. While the welder you are considering probably has its place as some sort of emergency item, I just can't imaging going with that even if it that is where your budget is.

If you are going to be in a shop, you should consider a MIG welder. If you think you will need to weld outside sometimes or may need to weld metal thicker than 3/16 inch on a regular basis, then stick is probably what you need. I'd start with one of these two processes. I started with MIG and now also have a TIG welder for making crawfish boilers and for my eventual boat project.

I actually prefer flux core wire over everything else, and I weld a bunch.

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What most of you would consider minor, as in shite breaks around the house, boat trailer, maybe truck, etc.

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One of the things that you should consider, and you may have already, is that if it is something that, if it breaks, someone could get hurt, you absolutely don't want to weld on it as a beginner AND definitely not with such an underpowered device. Expect whatever you weld on with that to break if put under any kind of load.

I almost always take the little welder to my work instead of bringing eq/trucks into the shop. A 230v fllux core mig welder is the bomb for that, no bottle.