I don't have one, but know that it makes heat in a way that regular (Weber) charcoal baskets can't.
It creates one path for air (less heat loss on the sides) and channels it due to the cone shape. Most of the homemade alternatives use one or more of its feature aspects (larger capacity, solid sides etc) which should tell you something.
Whether or not it's "better" will depend on lots of things, like whether or not you can already do what you want other ways, as well.