With dozens of similar items on Amazon running from $19.95 to $300, I chose to go with the Breville brand at a reasonable cost ($69 when I purchased it). I did not want a cheap, easily breakable item at lower cost, especially considering the use of this thing (for me) was for entertaining, and would be used in front of guests. I have other Breville products and am very happy with those products and with their customer service. Made in America, and when I called to ask for some hand-holding on one of their products, the phone rang twice and a person answered the phone that I could understand, and she helped without a single transfer to another person. Amazing in this day and age. As to the smoker itself: Works extremely well. I was a little surprised that the smoker does not have a heating element, so you light the shavings with a lighter or match, but it was extremely easy to do. Like lighting a pipe (if you are familiar with that): shavings in the bowl, flip the switch to start the blower, hold the match to the bowl, and the shavings light immediately. After thinking about it a while, I think I prefer this method (over my incorrect assumption), since it follows the KISS principle and works very well. I will probably buy a cheap lighter and just keep it in the box with the smoker. On smoking with it: I used it for making smoked cocktails. I had envisioned inserting the tube in the cocktail and the smoke bubbling through it, another incorrect assumption. The manual specifically says not to do this. I followed the manual's suggestion and put all of the mixed drink ingredients in a shaker, added the smoke, and shook the cocktail. I shook it a little longer than I normally would, so more smoke would get absorbed. I used a glass shaker, which made great presentation. With experimentation (oh, the sacrifices we make), I was able to recreate a local restaurant's smoked cocktail exactly. The smoke is very detectable in the drink, both taste and bouquet, and does change the experience. As to quality of the smoke, not sure what I expected, but the smoke was very "clean" - white and no particulates. It also stayed around a long time, surprisingly. 15 minutes later, the shaker still contains smoke. I expected either the smoke would be consumed by the shaking, or that it would cool and settle in a relatively short time. Neither happened. As to the quantity of smoke: this was the biggest surprise. Like a previous reviewer, I purchased additional wood chips, but after making 6-8 cocktails, had barely made a dent in the sample wood chips it came with. It also comes out quickly. I expected it to build as the wood ignited and to take just a little time to build up some smoke (clearly I had no idea what to expect), but it begins pouring out immediately. So, you need to be prepared. For the first one I was surprised and had to quickly get it into the shaker. For follow-on drinks, I moved the operation next to the range hood with the exhaust fan already on. I did not set off a smoke alarm the first time, but it is not appealing to have smoke hanging in the kitchen. The smoke does appear to be slightly heavier than air, or at least buoyancy neutral. From the picture, you can tell the shape of the shaker I used. This was excellent, since this particular shaker has a screw-off cap. I settled on a method of removing the cap, holding the tip of the hose right up to the opening, and then cracking the seal on the top so that air could escape. All of the smoke stayed in the shaker, and as soon as it started to come out of the shaker seal, I stopped the smoker and resealed the top. This was an ideal shaker for this application, which I just happened to have, so I got lucky. Absolutely top marks all around. I have used it only that one evening, but for 6-8 shakers (12-16 drinks), and am very happy with it. I bought it for the cocktails, but definitely plan to try it on food. Smoked cheese looks appealing, and I also make baby-back ribs that I intend to try it with.