Welcome and you chose the right place to come for Honest advice...
If your hubby is a Techie kind of guy with a smart phone, The
Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse, Model 20070115, with Bluetooth has been getting good reviews around here and at $399.99 on
Amazon is a pretty good price.
For a more Basic electric smoker, the Smokin-it Model #2 is the same price but shipping is a bit salty.
For Charcoal fired, I agree, the
Weber Smokey Mountain (
WSM) in 22.5 will get the job done with a small learning curve and is also $399.
For Propane, the Landmann 3895GWLA is a similar size and price. Shop around including calling the manufacturer. They can sometime beat online store prices. The
Camp Chef Smoke Vault 24" wide is cheaper and has good reviews.
There are cheaper smokers and WAY more expensive ones but the above are some of the most popular around here with the least amount of problems or modifications needed. I would not hesitate to purchase any of these...JJ