I can't comment on any other smokers because I have only ever owned one and I don't think I'll ever use another. I have a 30" Masterbuilt Electric smoker that I would not trade for anything. I put it out on my deck with the meat in it and put the temp gage in the meat then start it up. I can control everything from the remote from inside the house after that so I work and just keep the remote next to me so I can monitor progress. I smoke a lot of fish and often times I will fire it up when I get up and by lunch time I have smoked fish for lunch all while I was working at my desk here in the office space in my cabin. I have done lots of jerky both turkey and deer in it as well as smoking larger roasts etc. from super low temps to very high temps I can control it exactly from start to finish, all while sitting inside nice and warm while outside it can be -20F and it will just chug away doing its thing until my meat is done. Here is a link to the one I have:
http://www.masterbuilt.com/index.php/products/smokers/30-inch-electric-digital-stainless-steel-smokehouse-w-top-control.html