Advantage

[SomethingMetal]

What is the main advantage of having a machine torch head over a handheld torch head? Are the cuts really that much better or not?

[I Lean]

It's not that the cuts will be any better or different, but the machine torch is much easier to make sure it's square to the material than the hand torch. Also, it doesn't have the same meltable parts as a hand torch. Depending on your mounting system for the hand torch, it may be easier to change consumables on the machine torch without removing it from the clamping system.

For my setup, I leave the machine torch attached to the Z axis all the time, and have a hand torch that I plug in when I need to do other stuff. (without disturbing the machine's setup)