reading this thread reminded me of my Mom's dry iron that was heavy, hot and so old that it had a cord that had a woven covering. My brother-in-law, who irons a shirt daily, LOVED this iron and when my Mom died this past Dec, we found the iron in a cabinet with a slip of paper with his name on it. It brought back lots of childhood memories for my sis and I--learning to iron with pillow cases and my Dad's hankerchiefs, my Mom using a 7-Up bottle with a sprinkler stopper to dampen the clothes and then placed in a plastic bag overnite to prepare to iron--all things that younger folks won't experience. I think the iron is at least 50 yr old and still works.
Myself--I love steam and just use a cheap iron bought at Walmart--had it for years now, dropped a couple of times, and still works. Only think I would change is I'd like it a little heavier so it did more of the work and me, less.