ghostrider said:
what is this diffrence between a box smoker and a laying down tube smoker?
The verticle smoker give a better utilization of space...ie. more cooking space per square foot. Also, you can usually get better heat control since the heat is doing it's natural thing by rising vs. moving up to the lid and laterally in a horizontal cooker.
However, a lot is in the astethics - some folks really like the look of a horizontal pipe smoker.
When you move up from dept/hardware store sheet metal cookers to insulated (or thicker steel) cookers (ie. Spicewine, Stumps, Jack's Old South, Klose, Gator, Lang, etc.) you get better temp control, more consistent heat with fewer "hot or cool spots".
And then there are the gassers, electrics, electric assisted, pellet machines and so forth like the AO Smoky Mountain Big Block (insulated w/gas burner), Fast Eddie's FE100, or the Cookshack home models, etc.
There are also the standbys like the Big Green Egg and Weber Smoky Mountain cookers.
Asking about the differences in cookers is like asking about the differences in cars...we've "assisted" more than one member during the search for a cooker.