I think this forum is incredibly helpful for anyone doing any research before they buy. I actually found out about SI smokers when I was researching another brand. I saw a comment about how well SI smokers were made and another poster said that it really wasn’t fair to compare SI and other brands due to the price difference. That led me to to look into SI, and I found this forum. I probably spent 8 hours reading post after post, and that changed my mind about my purchase.
Most reviews/forum discussions of other brands talk about the failures. There are not many failure discussions on here. The discussions are from people who have been happily using their smokers for years. The sense of community and support here is amazing.