[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Often the person "judging" is simply giving good advice in the wrong way. I was just outside talking to my Border Collie about this, and as you know, they're pretty smart.
He pointed out the BBQ. Let me tell you about my BBQ journey. I like to eat meat. A lot. So some years ago, I decided to buy a BBQ. I'm cheap when it comes to things like that, so I went to crappy tire and bought the season end floor model for $79. No assembly required!!
I took it home (had to buy a tank on the way home) and fired it up. Cooked me a burger that was delicious. It was the best BBQ burger in the history of burgers. Overall, a very successful BBQ. But as time passed, I realized I couldn't cook a lot of burgers, and it got to hot to cook fish, and it rusted up after a couple seasons. It was an eyesore. But it was mine, and could still cook a successful burger.
One day I was out shopping and came across a shiny stainless BBQ. $500!!! But it has 4 burner controls, radiant heating, side burners, digital displays, etc. And it looks nice!
I bought it, took it home (came with everything I needed including tank) and fired it up. Yup, another epic burger. It was delicious. Montreal steak spice really rocks a burger. It was no better than the old BBQ burger though. Equally successful at cooking burgers.
But, and here's the value added part. It can cook lots of burgers Like a dozen or more at a time. I can bake a salmon, or cook a roast. And I can boil corn on the side and keep it all warm until everything it done. It's shiny, did I mention that?? It's still shiny, and when I walk by and see it on my deck, I like it. I like that I have a nicer than crap $79 sale BBQ. It impresses my BBQ friends. It rocks, it rolls. It sings and dances. I love my BBQ. Best damn $500 I ever spent.
Now, this is the point where I got what I paid for. I paid for consumer satisfaction, that my BBQ, in addition to successfully cooking burgers, can do so much more. It makes me happy. 2 years later, I'm still happy. I still love my BBQ. I don't envy other BBQs and don't wish I had a better one. It's awesome.

So, if you come to Brad's BBQ forum, and ask which BBQ to buy, I'm going to tell you to avoid that crappy $79 BBQ. It's sh1t. The $500 is way better. It is. It can't cook that burger any better, but it's way better in so many other ways. So my advice is save for the BBQ you need, not settle for what you can afford right now. You won't like that advice, and you'll argue about it. But the advice comes from a Border Collie, and they're smarter than anything. You should listen. Unless you really need a burger now and are content not having all that other stuff. In the end though, you almost always get what you pay for, in some form or fashion. It's not about the burger, it's about the happy.

P.S. Rig says you're welcome.

not a real good argument for this discussion for one reason Brad, you are comparing a bargain basement priced to a medium priced bbq, in this range there is a huge difference that you found out like the case material and such, but when you start looking from mid range to high end a lot of the differences are name branding and gimmicks, hmm something like the fish industry.

think back 10 years ago to the debates between extruded and cell cast skimmer bodies, retailers were charging twice as much just because the body was cell cast, did it make a difference on performance nope, but they would have you think it would.

you mentioned having something do what you want it to do in form and function, this is a valid point that I agree whole heartedly with. if you are willing to pay more for a look then it is worth it to you and you get your moneys worth, if you are willing to pay more for special functions then it is worth it to you, but it doesn't mean you get what you pay for, it just means you were willing to pay more for a certain something, and most of the time that certain something has nothing to do with the success of your tank.

I have always been a function over form kind of guy who will have ugly equipment inside a nice stand.

Steve