I have been using the 26er almost exclusively since I got it. I will use it again tonight in fact. I agree, the real estate can make things so much easier, and I absolutely love it.
I will say, however, that it does take either more fuel or produce a lower temp at the same amount of fuel. This is not suprising of course, and also not a huge deal, but i can tell
for sure that I use more charcoal in the 26.
EDIT:
Here is another example of the real estate. I did a few things on the grill Sunday. At this point, the grill made a rack of ribs and 4 pounds of wings look puny! (FYI I used the orange sriracha sauce on the ribs and it was terrific)