Wilbur,
I'm VERY happy with my setup. One difference between mine and Jim's is that he has to open his up to install his racking rig, whereas mine is closed all the way, my brew is sealed off from the environment from pitching until it comes out of the tap to my mug. (That was one of three major criteria I had when I switched from glass carboys: no more glass to drop and break or that couldn't take pressure, no more opening up to install racking rig --mine was a carboy-cap type -- and I wanted a thermowell. Got it all.) But Jim does some open fermentation anyway, so it's not a concern for him. I suppose there are other configurations possible with the Speidel. I just used minimal imagination with the inspiration of a conical: gas at the top (doubles as an airlock) and liquid at the bottom. It is also very easy to take samples in a sanitary way during fermentation. I just pop off my "airlock" (QD to tube into jar of StarSan) and give a little bump of gas, and use a short picnic tap to draw a sample. One last thing about Speidel: flat bottom and no legs. I imagine there might be times when that might be something you wish you had if you had a Fermentasaurus. Also, can you put gas onto the Fermentasaurus? No gas, no "closed" transfer with any setup.