Hi Scott....I've been running my WSM since August. It is my first smoker,
and I find it very easy to run.
I use lump charcoal with chunks of wood for smoke......mostly using a
half-assed minion method (I just shake the lump/ashes from the last cook and
dump on some more unlit before I add lit coals). In the late summer I have
kept it going for 13 hours no problem......would have stayed going but I was
done cooking the meat!.
I am in NH, and cooked for 6 hours in the last blizzard we had...11 inches
of snow--25 degrees with strong winds.....the temps stayed pretty even in
that, although it was a bit more work to get the temps up to 225-250. I
would think in Arizona, the Weber would work great.I also use sand and foil
in the water pan...no worries about the pan going dry, and less clean up.
I can't speak about the quality of less expensive smokers, but the Weber
is solid. Also, I like that I can use it as a grill, as I don't have a huge
deck/lawn, and only want one cooker. Good luck! David-