This question comes up all the time on the forum. From my experience on the forum, asking the brethren what cooker to buy is like asking what car to buy on a car forum. There are so many good choices out there, but for different purposes.
Step one: Do Your homework and figure out what you need, not what you want.
I would pick one, or maybe a couple out that suit my needs, and then ask the brethren their experiences with those units. Find out the pros and cons of of those particular units.
Check out the suggestions on here, narrow your options, then run those options by the brethren. IMO, you will get more usable information.
Everyone loves their own smokers they have and they all feel their smoker is the best, mainly because it suits their needs well. People are individuals and needs change from person to person like anything else.
My suggestion to you is to figure out what you need, not what you think you want.
Start by deciding what you wish to use for fuel, do you want a stick burner that may require a lot of attention, or a well insulated charcoal cooker that can burn all night on an eight pound load of lump charcoal. Consider and calculate your fuel costs then move on to other needs.
After that you can decide size, adjustable shelving, vertical or horizontal, reverse flow, and so on....
The last thing I want to do is try to persuade you to purchase something just because I like my unit. In fact I would deter you from purchasing this unit simply because it is too large for the average backyard cook.
Here is the reasoning on how and why I chose my smoker that I recently purchased... How I chose my smoker (
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2471312&postcount=1) Maybe some of this selection process can help you find your needs?
Also added was to the fact was that it was a $1000.00 cheaper than another unit of similar design I was considering.
If you are not sure what you want, consider building or purchasing a UDS until you get your homework done.
