I have an old school one. I paid something like $50 for it. I respectfully disagree with the old school ones being difficult. I do the same thing everytime. Throw in the coal, flame it up, throw in the wood chips & fish after 30. Let it go for an hour & half to 3 hours. Usually the coals burn down enough that smoking it a lot longer doesn't dry it out, at least for me. I love the smell & taste from it too. Charcoal & applewood, brined in applejuice & I get rave reviews everytime 
I didn't mean the old school were difficult. But practice does make it easy. I also probably shouldn't have said you have to spend time watching your meal. What I should have said it you have to spend time setting the fire/smoke or cook temp. not hard, but it does take time. If you compare it to an electric setup your ready to go in a few minutes.
So
Both:
cook great meals easy
both smoke with wood
Electric-quick setup done in a few minutes
old school- takes 30 min to setup up fire/smoke
Electric - you buy wood designed to be used in that stove.. probably going to cost a little more
old school - burn what every you want in what ever shape you want - cost will be cheaper
I would say it comes down to what you like/want, how often your going to use it, if you like starting fire, and how much money your willing to spend. If you want cheap and cost saving or like to get the do it yourself and don't mind a 30 minute start go old school. If your a microwave simplicity kind of person or you want to smoke often and want to save some time, and don't mind spending a little more money go electric. Choice is your. either way the food will be smoked and be great