I grill a lot, and can’t tell a difference in the taste. I thought flavor came mostly from fat-smoke anyway?
So far, nobody has mentioned how much cheaper the gas grill is to operate. One tank of gas=about 100 bags of charcoal, IMHO. Just get two gas tanks, and you don’t have to worry about running out.
I know the gas grill costs more at purchase, but my experience is that total cost per meal cooked is much cheaper with gas.
Don’t bring George Foreman into this, please. 
Don’t be so hasty. I have a real electric grill (the Foreman is just an electric griddle, not a grill). It has a stainless steel grill, an electric heating element, a grease tray beneath, and is housed in a ceramic bowl-like structure. It is round and about 16 inches (40cm) in diameter. It does a mean steak or 4-6 bratwursts. I’m not saying it cooks better than either gas or charcoal but it is far more convenient than either, at least at home. It can (and should) be used indoors. And it cleans up nicely for storage in a kitchen cabinet. It beats all when you live in an apartment with no balcony, like my ex-wife and I did when we got married. It was a wedding gift from my grandparents and I kept it when we split.
And for those who do have a balcony, open flames are likely to be against fire code. Our balcony has the third one on this page, it’s identical to their charcoal model except for the electric heating element.
Charcoal is a dry heat, propane is a wet heat. Propane is a hydrocarbon, charcoal is carbon. The hydro in hydrocarbon adds lots of H[sub]2[/sub]O in addition to the CO[sub]2[/sub]. The cooking chamber is more humid as a result, and that can affect the taste of the food.
That said, anybody demanding the use of charcoal over gas has signed up for doing all the pre-heating chores, regardless of who does the cooking.
My parents had an electric grill when I was young. Pumice stone in the bottom evened out the heat and caught the drips. Actually seems like a reasonable compromise between getting dry heat and convenience, assuming you can crank it up hot enough.
Charcoal for me. If I have mesquite chips to toss in there, that is even better. For indoors, the George Foreman grill works very very well, but charcoal is still best for outdoors.
Last night I used my egg for some prime spencer steaks (topped with a blue cheese butter).
Anyway because of this thread, I timed just how long it does take for me to get my egg ready to cook. So I timed it.
I went out to the egg, and started my stopwatch. Open the lid, remove the grate, stir the ashes, and add some fresh lump charcoal. About 45 seconds. Grab the MAPP torch pull the trigger and held the flame on a couple of different parts of the lump. I walked back inside at the 2 minute mark. At the 16 minute mark, I was ready to cook with a 750 degree grill. Now during that 16 minutes I was preping the veggies, and the bluecheese butter, so it was not time wasted. So on a daily basis, I am spending maybe an extra minute and a half getting ready for the cook. BFD. For superior results this is time well spent.
Now I do have to clean the ashes every couple of weeks, this takes me maybe five minutes for a routine cleaning and 10 minutes if remove the guts to do a major cleaning. I do the major cleaning maybe once every six weeks. For the weber, it is even easier, I just unhook the ash catcher and walk over to the trash can, maybe 30 seconds. Again BFD.
As far as cost of fuel goes, I buy 40 lb bags of lump charcoal for $14 year around. I would seriously doubt that a tank of propane would outlast 4,000 lbs of lump, as John Carter seems to think. Judging by my use, I would guess one tank of propane is more like 2 bags of lump, bring the cost to close to even.
As far as the taste arguement goes, for those of you who say the taste is exactly the same, the people at Cook’s illustrated don’t agree with you
Wow, thanks for the research, Rick! You made some very good points that I will use in my side of the debate, for sure.
I couldn’t find it in the link; what’s the approximate price range for the BGE?
I don’t like propane. I think food cooked on a gas grill is not very much different from what you’d get in an ordinary gas oven or broiler.
Also implied in this thread but not specifically noted, propane flames do not get as hot as charcoal fires can get.
Having done both, I honestly believe the taste difference is wildly overstated. I know people can get evangelical over this sort of thing, but if you did a double blind taste test you’d be shocked at the results.
The quality of the cut of meat and the skill with which it is prepared and grilled, as well as the spices, sauces and marinades used, far outweigh the impact of the type of grill being used.
From th eDust jacket of the book I link above:
No offence buddy, but until you have a national TV cooking show, a couple of dozen cook books to your name and have lit the aforementioned 6,000 fires, I’m going with Cooks. 
Adding more fuel to the fire…
I’m a charcoal griller, the “extra hassle” is worth it to me. Hotdogs and burgers are ok on a gas grill but I tend to use mine a smoker more and I like the flavor of charcoal and alderwood. I throw a couple of sticks that have been soaked in water overnight and let em smolder.
YMMV
My husband and I have both. A gas grill for the 3 or so times a week we throw a couple of burgers or chicken breasts on the grill, and a charcoal grill/smoker combo for the weekend cookouts or camping trips. We thrill in our compromises.
Charcoal does taste better. When I had a charcoal grill, I used it five or six times a year. A little over a year ago, I bought a propane grill. I have used it two or three times a week ever since. I don’t know why I waited so long.
Haj
Well, they’re a very nicely made piece of equipment and because they’re made of very thick ceramic they’ll last you a lifetime. Prepare to pay for it however… mine costed me about $700 with a few accessories included. It’s still worth every penny.
I’m a southerner and know what real barbecueing is about. If you’re going to barbecue all you can hope to do is BBQ it over a real wood-burning pit.
Charcoal is an attempt to mimick the great taste that brings.
I don’t necessarily think charcoal (or even wood) is better. I think for certain types of food or certain prepartions of meat you dont’ want that “charcoal” flavor on the meat. Propane is basically a quicker/more portable version of an indoor stove IMO. You get the meat and little other added flavor from what you’re cooking it with. Propane is fairly clean burning and doesn’t change the taste of meat IMO like charcoal does.
Why bother with the MAPP gas method, these guys can get it lit way faster than that=)
http://www.qis.net/~jimjr/eng16.htm
<grin, duck and run>
I cook out several times a week on charcoal. To me it’s not that much of a hassle, more of a ritual. I just like doing it. When I lived in an apartment, I had a very small, open charcoal grill that I used on the balcony. I also have an electric Faberware rotisserie that was handed down, don’t use it much.
Clearly, you have a different source of charcoal than I did. When I had a charcoal grille, I was buying a ten-pound bag of briquettes at the grocery store about every two weeks. With the propane, cooking the same number of times or even a little more, I buy one tank-full for around $12.00. That lasts roughly a year.
I came out way ahead, money wise, with the propane. But I’m a casual user and don’t claim to be a professional cooker of things delightful. Purchasing charcoal in two-ton lots isn’t something I’d want to do.