In my opinion it's based on how often your going to use it, how much you want to spend and how much at one time are you planning on cooking. Over the past many years I've had electric, charcoal and gas smokers.
They all can produce very good food if used properly.
The electric smoker I had 25 years ago did fine but the heating element kept burning out and was kind of hard to control the heat if it was cold or windy out. But with the right conditions cooked some good food.
The Charcoal smoker takes more tuning if you will, but with practice can turn out some wonderful food. The down side is unless you pimp one out your going to have to watch and do a little babysitting while your cooking. I think most people believe this is the only way to truly cook/smoke food.
The gas smoker, which is what I have been using now for 8-10 years is the choice for me. It was cheap $165 when I bought it and is pretty much a set and forget other than adding extra wood or water depending how long your smoking. It's easy to use and clean up is fast.
I'm looking at a new smoker, and thought about a green egg or pellet style cooker but now I may just buy a new gas smoker and save the extra cash for more smokes...
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