If you clean the winador out well and let it air out there's really no need for cedar, well except for whatever shelves / trays you end up with. I love my winador, I have a Daniel Marshall desktop that was pretty expensive (can I go to your friend's for a play date now?), I use that more for sticks I'm going to smoke soon, I use it as a dry box to a degree, plus it looks nice and nice to just open and pull out one of my
first rate cigars.
The winador has many benefits including temp control for people that live in very hot climates, not to mention you can't beat the seal on it for keeping RH where you want it.
Your friend has very strong opinions it seems and he certainly knows everything there is to know about cigars, that being said I'm trying to figure out why such an dapper aficionado would even bother to buy or own second rate ceegars.
Go with the winador you will outgrow it soon enough as it is.
