In my early 20's, I used regular sockets on air tools. The sockets never broke, but the 1/2" square input was hammered loose on both the socket and 1/2" extensions. This is my experience.
Also, don't necessarily believe that just because it uses air, it is more powerful than a quality Craftsman breaker bar, and a six point set of chrome sockets, or black-chrome air impact sockets, powered by man.
Too many jobs are too tough for a typical air tools found in the home. Air tools are good for medium size bolts where the benefit is SPEED not POWER. Removing tire lugs is an obvious application, however, tightening requires a hand tool!
IF I were limited to $150, I would get a CP (Chigago Pneumatic) or Ingersoll-Rand 1/2" drive impact tool. The whole idea here is BUY QUALITY-BUY AMERICAN. They are more efficient for the same PSI than a big sloppy package of tools in a Campbell Hausfield set at Wally World.
It seems the only thing I use my air compressor are:
1. Air sweeping the garage floor.
2. Filling tires
3. Removing wheel lug nuts.
4. Removing fill/drain plugs from my Toyota's diff. fill/drain plugs. It is nice and gentle application here.

(not ingersoll standard, but that's because ingersoll is the higher brand name for CH/Husky.

Oh, BTW, Campbell Hausfeld, Husky, and Ingersoll Rand airtools are made in the same factory. Just Ingersoll it the lexus and CH is the toyota... (well the higher end CH)... that bascially sums it up.

I assure you, you are completely wrong as to which brands are produced by Ingersoll-Rand. The IR name is NOT a "higher brand name" for CH or husky. IR makes IR branded tools, some of the Sears line(you can tell which ones because they look exactly the same as the IR 2131 etc), MAC air tools, and Snap-On air tools. They DO NOT MAKE Campbell Hausfield tools. They (IR) make a line of cheap chinese (or Korean) produced tools called "powerforce" by IR. These are what they are, cheap chinese air tools. You may get a good one, you may get a crappy one. Most likely a crappy one if you plan to use it for anything besides tinkering around. The quality control is basically non-existant for these off-shore produced tools. All of the other brand-names mentioned (IR line, Snap-on, MAC, Sears) are made in the Athens, PA facility that has been there since the days of the very early Railroads (which is how/why the impact wrench was invented) I can assure you I am correct on all of this, as I am head of the Metallurgical Lab for the Athens facility.