When i was a poor college student i built an UglyDrumSmoker (UDS) for under $45.
Since then i've smoked a bunch of different types of meat, from ribs to shoulder to salmon a friend caught in alaska.
As mentioned above, http://www.smokingmeatforums.com is a great resource.
PM me for easy and delicious rib recipes- there are also a lot of award winning recipes and techniques easily found on youtube
enjoy!