Anyone seen one of these up close or seen an unbiased review?   

I don't know for sure, but this guy seems pretty unbiased.  [Sorry folks we don't allow links to other sites or other reviews of products.  The most I can say is that folks can visit derrick riches site.]

 I have not seen this pit.  What I did see was a Cuisinart gasser @ a local store. It was new to me so I just had to look. No intention of purchasing whatsoever..The outside looked OK, not spectacular. I then

opened it up + had a look. The more I looked and deeper into the workings I went the worse it got. This parallels the Woodcreek review to some extent.  The lesson - have a good look @ the complete pit paying

attention to the internals, build quality And design.   

I rarely go to wally world but the GF waned to stop for something and I decided to go in to check out the Blackstone griddle accessories. They had one of these there and I had to go look at it. I had read about them a little bit after seeing a picture of one and they sounded interesting. I couldn't really look it over well as they had signs on all of the grills Please do not touch the grills due to the Rona. But I lifted the lid and started looking at it some and then some of the employees that were there started giving me the evil eye as to say can't you read the sign. The lid had some heft to it not sure if that was due to the glass or the handle. it didn't seem to flex from side to side I liked the gasket, the grates seemed pretty nice they were cast iron. Initial impression is it is a $600 what do you expect. About that time the GF found me and said you don't need another smoker, I hung my head and said yes Dear and we moved along. I would like to take a better look at one, but that would probably mean I would need to back to wally.