I have been smoking all types of food for over 40 years. Started with a charcoal upright smoker with the water pan in the bottom. Pain in the ass trying to keep the coals going and temperature controlled, not to mention the pain of having to top off the water pan early and often.
Moved on to a barrel smoker with the fire box on the side. Much easier keeping fire going, though temperature control was still difficult. Furthermore, I found it was 100 degrees hotter on the side by the fire box as opposed to the opposite side, and 100 degrees hotter in the top of the barrel compared to the bottom.
Found out about the Traeger pellet grill and bought my first one from Costco about 15 years ago. These grills are fantastic! Automatic feed of wood pellets to maintain any temperature between 150-450F. It also has a convection fan so the temperature remains even throughout the grill.
Bought a Green Egg once to see what their cult was all about, but ended up giving it to my son as it was too much of a pain in the ass compared to the Traeger. I now own 3 Traeger grills in 3 different sizes. I take my tailgater everywhere I travel, including tailgate parties in the muni lot for Browns games.
Everyone that eats the food off one of these grills always comments that it just tastes better on a Traeger.