Tom,
I missed your question a while back, so I'm replying now.
I bought the Orion for $40 on clearance at Home Depot some years ago. I think I have used it 3 times since. It's more of a novelty than something I would use at the house. It might be good as a portable cooker/smoker for the beach, camping, tailgating, etc... however. But here, I have too many other devices that do the same task so it's more of a novelty to have the charcoal on the outside (like a cast iron cooker more or less).
I have done ribs, chicken and a small pork butt in the Orion. It does work, but I think the WSM works better. But the Orion is faster. I've moved mine to storage and I may give it to my daughter and her husband as they are currently grill-less in their new home.
Unless you just absolutely want the Orion style of cooker/smoker (mostly a cooker), or can find one dirt cheap like I did, I think our other grills and smokers do the same job better.