I've been using an American Harvester SnackMaster for about 14 years, which has well paid for the investment several times over. However, I was thinking about replacing my trays (3rd time) and I noticed Sams was selling a snackmaster for only $25 last summer. It came with a full rack of trays, so it was a great bargain, costing only a couple of dollars more than a new set of trays and I get a new dehydrator to boot.
If you go get a dehydrator, I wpould highly recommend a forced air model - They offer much faster drying times.
Prior to the Snackmaster I used the oven method for jerky. I'd set it on low and keep the door open a crack. I did find you needed to watch your food more carefully than with the dehydrator and you also had to turn the meat more frequently when laid out on wax paper.
Normally, I run mine in the garage in the summer and in the kitchen in the winter. In late summer it is going almost every weekend dehydrating vegetables from the garden, the market and local produce stands.
The only thing I wish they came with was a timer, so I could turn it on and set it for 8-12 hours Like Ron Popeil says "Set-it-and-forget-it".