I don't like that the landing page seems to have pictures and specs/details for another model. Pretty sure it's that one but the new controller pictured next to it. You would think that they'd want to update that primary pic to the newer look ASAP. It could be a decent purchase but there's a few things I'm not real big on. For instance, "Large capacity pellet hopper" means what exactly? Their idea of the word "large" may not match mine and may not be typical of competitor's idea of what "large" means. Other smokers list how many pounds of pellets their hopper holds and I prefer this to just saying large. Also, the window for the cook area is next to pointless on any smoker. It becomes something that you can't keep clear no matter how hard you try and if you're OCD like me about such things it will bother more than you'll get use from it. It seems like a solution looking for a problem. You shouldn't need to "look" at your smoke very often and if you do it's just as easy to lift the lid and look at it. It also looks like there's only 10 temperature settings rather than being able to select the temp you want between a low/hi set point which may or may not be granular enough depending on the variety of things you do. Not sure if that's just some "smoke level" setting though and is independent of temperature but I'm not sure how you'd unlink those two directly related items in a pellet smoker. Lastly, that sucker looks pretty small and the 429sq in rack area, if accurate, confirms that.
If you're in the market for a new smoker check out the Rec Tec lineup. The RT-590 would probably compete with what you posted but annihilates it in most every category including fit, finish & materials. I currently rock a Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone WiFi and if I was to buy a new smoker right now it would probably be that one. Note that they're not cheap though so that may not be in the budget. If you can stretch though the reviews online are glowing and numerous. Something like the RT-340 may be a better comparison both in size and cost but give you better value.
If the price point is paramount, I'd take a serious look at this new Pit Boss unit that is just now coming out at Walmart:
New Pit Boss Smoker
The obvious downside to that one is that it's newer but this is also a good thing as there's been a lot of advancements in this segment the last few years. If it's a reliable unit long-term this looks like a REAL good value at less than $500. I'm seriously considering grabbing one to test out but the specs are only just now coming out on them the last few days. Still hoping someone else is willing to be the guinea pig on this one and I can learn from their first-hand experience. If enough time passes I may set aside the time to get one and try it out myself. Walmart has a pretty generous return period so the risk is minimal other than the time it takes to get it, set it up and then break it down & physically return it.
Originally Posted by Jer
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