I found the 560 at Walmart for $250 two years ago this month.
I love it for a smoker. I don't like it for a grill. I prefer my Kettles. Something about grilling with indirect high heat that doesn't set with me. And I think the people who've had the most problems are the ones cranking the heat up to 500* plus. I can't say that's a fact, its just an impression Ive gotten from reading places like the Facebook Masterbuilt group, etc.
Grease fires are also possible with the high heat. To get the high heat, the fan has to be ran at high speed. This blows embers into the manifold and they can enter the cook chamber. They hit a puddle of grease and boom .. ignition.
But I love it as a smoker. It has good air flow. It produces a thin blue smoke which I found surprising. I expected white billowing smoke but that only occurs when first fired up until a good charcoal coal bed is formed. In Season 5, Episode 7 of BBQ Pitmasters, the GF inventor, Walter " Stump " McDowell, says that the super heated air in the charcoal hopper cleans the impurities from the smoke. All the smoke has to travel through the coal bed in the bottom of the hopper to get into the cook chamber. When I first heard that, I was skeptical, but its fact.
I don't smoke on the lower grate. Its too close to the heat coming out of the manifold and I think there's some radiant heat from manifold. I use the middle grate. Also, I think I get better convection on the middle grate.
It holds temps great. The controller works very well.
I've bought some mods. I had an expanded metal middle grate made. Much better than the cheap porcelain grates that came with it. I bought a manifold cover/brackets from LSS mods, so I could put a water pan on top of the manifold and below the bottom grate. I also bought a hopper cover for the top of the hopper that seals up a leaky lid. Total cost about $230.
Had my first problem couple months ago when one of the three fan switches failed. The fan would not come on. I found replacements for all three on Amazon for $21 total. Easy to replace.
That said, I'm sure mine does not get as much use as most. I have an offset for the big meats, brisket and pork butt and sometimes ribs. I use the MB for ribs, pork tenderloin, pork steak, double smoking ham, sometimes yardbird.
I've become a big fan of gravity feed smokers. And this time of year its great to be able to set the temp and go inside the house rather than feed splits to the offset. I've been watching Brickseek and Amazon for a winter sale on the 1050. From looking at them at Academy, they seem to be heavier built and the extra room in the cook chamber would be nice. I missed a sale at Amazon in late October of $475 for a 1050.