Mitch,

I'm a hobbyist woodworker and also dabble in the occassional DIY project
and am looking to spend less than $200 on an HVLP unit.

I bought an inexpensive HVLP unit from Harbor Freight for less than $100.
You can also find similar units at Rockler.com.

It's obviously a low end sprayer, but we used it to apply a semi-opaque
stain to our entire house and it worked very well. I haven't had a chance
to try it for anything else yet.

The only real problem we had was the stain would dry and clump up at the
nozzle after 30-45 minutes spraying. So, every now and then I'd have to
stop, take the nozzle apart and clean it up. But, that was a few minutes at
most and I suspect it was due to the thick latex stain. I'm guessing a
thinner stain or finish would spray nicer without the clumping problems.

The sprayer has a small turbine (sounds like a vacuum cleaner when it's
running), a 15 foot hose, and the sprayer/paint pot. No air compressor is
needed. Fairly simple system, but it works nicely.

Anthony