I bought the Q1000 at a friend's recommendation and couldn't be happier with it. Didn't need the shelves because I use a cart to set the grill on. What has sold me on this little grill is the "D" shaped burner. Most others have a single as did my other Weber portable, and this D-shaped performs at a professional level. The  grates are awesome because they have a built in burner guard and clean up is easy. I use an adapter hose and 20# LP tank instead of those little 1# bottles, which I think improves the performance.  My only complaint is Weber didn't put a built in thermometer in the lid. Other models have this so I'll add one later.