The only other smoker experience I have is a WSM so the smokemeister looks similar if you squint but feels a lot different in operation.
This cook went really well, I saw a video on YouTube where the guy said he only needed 1-2 briquettes and since I only had lump charcoal on hand I tried just 1-2 pieces but that wasn't sufficient. Lit up some more and dropped it in the bottom and at the end of the cook had temps up around 225 at the top.
It's made of three main parts. From left to right the internal frame, inner chamber, outer body:
Untitled by
chris tsay, on Flickr
The lid is permanently attached to the frame, the grill baskets are removable, the plate at the bottom is to catch drippings I believe. The handle on the lid will only allow you to lift the inner frame and optionally the inner chamber if you engage the dowels. To carry the whole assembly the included carrying case has a handle.
There are metal dowels on the inner frame that interface with slots at the top of the inner chamber to control how much air gets into the smoker.
Untitled by
chris tsay, on Flickr
Untitled by
chris tsay, on Flickr
This also changes how much space you have in the bottom for coals and smoke wood. I did my cook at the most open setting.
Untitled by
chris tsay, on Flickr
Here's a shot of the inside of the outer body after the cook. I just dumped the ashes and coals into a metal bucket:
Untitled by
chris tsay, on Flickr
Since the cook was pretty short, about 45 minutes, I didn't try and regulate temp much. If you did a long cook refueling wouldn't be too bad. Pull the inner stack and just drop in more fuel. If you had to remove excess ash you could use gloves and tip the outer cylinder. At the end of this short cook I was able to empty the main body as well as transport the whole shebang into the house afterwards without gloves by just holding near the top.