You guys should all watch a few episodes of Man Fire Food, some crazy smoking/cooking contraptions on there. I have a digital Bradley smoker and love it, best part is you can set it and forget it. Winter or summer it regulates the heat for you, worth the extra $$$ than the lower model in my opinion. I have a remote thermostat I set in the meat and it shows the internal temp and alarms when it's done. Also the option to purchase the cold smoker attachment which is what I want to try next. Also I agree about not liking paying for chips but the amount I use it it doesn't break the bank, however I always wondered why you couldn't make your own pucks with your own wood. I'm sure someone has out there, little hydraulic press, wood chips and something to hold them together. So I guess my answer is if you have a bit of cash and like the idea of setting and forgetting the digital Bradley gets the job done, if funds are tight, or you like to build your own and tinker around with the food while it smokes some of those manual ones are great to. I started with a little chief which I loved but a bit hard in the winter to get the temp, now I have the Bradley with the built in element, cooked/smoked wings in it yesterday -3 out and they turned out perfect with no tinkering. Good luck with whatever you decide!