I pre-ordered the Halo 2 and got it when it first came out. Aesthetically the machine is flawless. The grommet-less armature clip is cool as well as the needle bar tension wheel. I did notice, however, that doing black and grey with it I had to be really careful to not get any mag marks regardless of voltage or how much or little give was adjusted. This could possibly be that the machine just doesn't suit how I tattoo. I'm using an AXYS direct drive now with carts and flexx bar and it does everything very smooth for me. Shading is very airbrush like. I had a Halo 1 and really liked it though so I dunno.