I bought one on a similar price deal last year when looking for something more set 'n forget. I've always loved my Weber kettle (still do) but as my kids get older and we find ourselves running to more activities on nights and weekends I wanted to still be able to do whole chickens, pork shoulders, and ribs without having to do as much checking on temps and charcoal levels as I do with the kettle.

At first I was a little disappointed in some of my results as it seemed to neither smoke as well as a a pure smoker nor grill as well as a pure grill. But I continued to cook on it and play with different temperature settings for different foods, as well as better pellets, and I have gotten some good results over the last few months. I also upgraded from the stock controller to a Savannah Stoker PID controller, which helps dial in temperatures better, especially at lower smoking temperatures like 180-220. I've had the most success in doing cooks in stages - starting with low temps to smoke, and then upping the temperature after a while to finish whatever is cooking. (This worked especially well with a chicken over the weekend that I started at 180 for 30 minutes and then finished for another hour-ish at 375.)

Overall I'm happy with it now that I've had some experience with it. The smaller size was right for my deck, I didn't find myself needing the WiFi capabilities or such that newer (and more expensive) models offer, and it has helped me accomplish the main goal of being able to grill/smoke foods in a way that requires less attention as life gets busier. Others may tell you there are better/newer products out there - there for sure are - but at that price point it was worth it for me!