If I was in the market for a MIG machine (when are any of us NOT in the market for something or another?) I would favor Miller. That said, I just don't do MIG very well, not enough practice, I suppose; I do pretty well with gas, stick, and TIG. But one thing Miller has in some of their smaller machines, under 250A, that is great for a novice, I think, is their "Autoset" feature - just dial in your metal and thickness, and the machine does the hard work of figuring out the settings for wire feed and amperage; as you learn, you can start fine tuning to your own preferences. In addition, the manual adjustments are finer, as has already been noted. As to brand, all of the major name brands seem to be quite durable, and very similar in layout and such, and I doubt you would miss much of anything with one over the other. I would stay away from the Harbor Freight stuff, though; lots of folks say it is pretty good, but I have my reservations - personal preference, I guess.