If Rico can hook you up with a Weber Summit in your price range, get it. I got one as my 40th birthday present from the parents + in-laws and we use it LOTS... I can't defend the price -- I doubt I'd have paid retail -- but it's been bombproof.

SG -- grilling is not BBQ, but it's also quick/fire & forget. If you get home at 6:30pm and want to be eating at 7, it works, where charcoal doesn't. And as you say, cooking for a big group is another winner (though a 3x a year thing, not multiple times a week). The flavor is lesser than charcoal grill, but the intrinsic advantages of cooking outside (less cleanup, pyro factor and less stanky house) are still there.
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The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. -John Buchan