I have a few small items that I want to do a powder coat on but have never done it before. I've watched a few YT videos and it seems fairly straight forward, but I've got a habit of screwing up even the easiest looking projects

I have a good size toaster oven for the heat source. I also have a good oven thermometer to monitor the temp (Thermoworks Dot), as well as a laser temp gun to check the temperature of the part while it's cooking. I also have a small paint booth that I use an air filter and fan when I do any small spray jobs for the house. I figure that will handle the powder over-spray.

My first question is about the equipment. For a occasional use, is there a benefit to going with an Eastman Eastwood intro set up at around $160 over going with the Harbor Freight $72 set? Is there a large quality difference in the application?

Second is the powder. I know to look for virgin powder, but are there brand differences in regards to quality?

Thanks

Get the Eastwood Dual Voltage.  Yes, it's bit more than the HF, but it's a better gun.  The DV allows easier application in faraday areas (think corners, edges) as well as multi-coat application (some powders require 2 coats, such as the Prismatic Illusion series).

Prismatic is a well regarded vendor with a wide variety of powders.

I would get something better than the Harbor Frieght gun, something like Eastwood, Redline, or the Columbia Coatings Kool Koat system (what I'm using now for my metal fab side biz)

I use Prismatic powder (they are a sister company of Cerakote) for most of my jobs, sometimes I have to go to another site for certain colors though, like "Powder by the pound" or "the powder coat store"

Tool wise sounds like you have a good start, but don't forget that sandblasting your parts first really helps it stick and not flake and chip off easily, especially on corners.

The sandblasting is something I don’t have access to right now. How much of a risk am I taking if I just give the parts a thorough hand sanding and acetone wipe down?

I have an old first gen Eastwood gun and have done several suspension parts with it. I have no idea how the new stuff compares. One tip I can share is if you have the space a full size oven opens up a lot more options because your not limited by the size of the oven. Craigslist makes it easy to find an old oven, just run a properly rated extension cord from 240v outlet in the house.
Also you don't want to use an oven you plan on cooking food in.
If you were closer I'd just give it to you, I haven't used it in years.

Oh and the powder makes an incredible mess, have some kind of containment curtain.