tlo1333
I have a horizontal barrel smoker with the fire box on the side. I like it, but the heat is uneven. The fire is on the left, so all the heat is on the left. The right side dosn't get as hot. When I get a new smoker I will look at a vertical smoker, where the fire is underneath and the smoke and heat rises to the food.

P_Rick
I have a Brinkman that works great!!!!

sensible_man
I like the Brinkman vertical smoker. It has two racks and a waterpan. I also add fruit juices to the waterpan as I find the natural sugar carmelizes on the meat and gives it more flavor.

gwadlpj
I have the Brinkmann Gourmet Electric (the first link below) and I love it. Which one you should use depends on what you are doing. Horizontal smokers with side chambers have distinct advantages. The first is easy access to your fuel source. With a firebox on the side you can easily add more wood and charcoal. Also you can use the firebox as a small grill. A downside, as mentioned previously is that the temperature is not uniform throughout the smoker. Temperatures are higher closer to the fire. This can be a godd thing if you need to slow smoke (around 150 degrees instead of 225) something because you can just move the meat to the other side of the smoker. The vertical smoker, and more specifically the vertical water smoker, is built for consistency. Since the smoker barrel is vertical the smoke rises throughout the whole chamber. No matter where you place the meat it will get smoke and it will be smoked at a consistent temperature. The water bowl helps keep the temperature consistent while adding some hydration to your meat. One disadvantage is that usually it is more difficult to add wood to the smoker (the brinkmann has a side door for easy access), but this is minor. The other question you will need to ask yourself is whether to go with charcoal or electric (in the case of vertical smokers). I like electric because then the temperature is always consistent (some may say this is a disadvantage). When I need to smoke a brisket for 12 - 15 hours I don't wat to have to worry about adding more charcoal. My brinkmann was actually on sale last year for $69.00 at Lowes. If you want to go high end check out the second link below. This is an example of an insulated charcoal vertical smoker. This is more like what the pros use. Good luck and have fun.

gunch23
I have used a Big Green Egg a few times and I am totally sold on it. They may cost more, but they tend to hold heat very well.