Budget: I don’t want to spend more than 1000. I also don’t want to buy bells that are more gimmicky than useful.
Speaking of gimmicky, are the side burners a good thing or a gimmick? I think I would like to use them for “regular” cooking in the summer, so I don’t heat up the house. Do they work like that? Or do they suck?
Use: Good question. I don’t think I’ll know until I start grilling and cooking outside. My feeling is that once the heat goes up for the summer I’ll want to cook outside more. I’ve never done it, so I don’t know how much I’ll like it. We tend to cook dinners 4-5 times a week and eat out 1 or 2. I guess I would try to use it once a week in the summer.
Based on the above, I’m leaning gas. Charcoal sounds nice, but I think I’d fall into the “too much trouble to bother” camp.