Hi Ella: the best rain-barrel looks like the below link, with a lid on top, which can be taken off easily. I spent at least 10 hours researching rain-barrels, before buying one at Sam's club, it leaked, and we had to return it.

Rain barrel that has open top like a garbage can

I like the rain-barrel from above link so much, that I bought 2 more for a total of 3 rain-barrels, zero leaks for 3 years. Amazon has similar rain-barrel with a lid on-top, which can be taken off easily like a trash can. VERY IMPORTANT to have one that can be opened-wide on top like a trash can, since my neighbor's top can't be opened, only a small opening on top, and it's a real-pain to flush out the gunk at the bottom, before storing for winter.

Plastic or brass spigot doesn't matter. What matters is how sturdy the rain-barrel's plastic is, so it won't crack. The biggest advantage of rain-barrel is the upper overflow hose, which can siphon excess rain into another $12 garbage can. To solve draining off the barrel, choose one with the LOWEST spigot, so there's only 2" of water which can't be drain off.

we use 4 large red-brick squares to elevate the rain-barrel for better water-pressure. I spent over $40 per rain-barrel just to hook up with a bunch of $12 garbage cans during heavy rain. One rain-barrel can put the overflow into many 32 gallons garbage, one just have to go outside, and direct the overflow into the next garbage can.

IF SOMEONE IS IN A LESS HEAVY rain climate, I won't even bother with a rain-barrel. Just chop off the rain-spout to make it shorter, then put a $12 garbage can with wheels underneath. Advantages: 1) no need to buy $20 worth of bricks to raise it up.

2) Faster watering, I just lower a bucket into the garbage can to get water, rather than slow-drips from a rain-barrel hose. I can empty out water from a garbage can in less than 10 min, versus at least 1/2 hour from a rain-barrel, since I can't dip a bucket into a rain-barrel and get 5-gallon bucket instantly.

3) Easier to clean, just rinse the garbage can off with a hose, versus a real-pain to clean if the rain-barrel have a tiny hole on top. 4) Easy to solve with mosquito problem, just close the garbage-lid when it's done raining. 5) faster flow of water from rain-spout to the large opening of a garbage can. My rain-barrel's screen-top are constantly clogged up with debris, have to clean them prior to a rain. so I simply take the top off my rain-barrel during rain.

I bought 3 rain-barrels since I have heavy rain which can fill a 52-gallon rain-barrel in less than 1/2 hour. Plus rain-barrel has the overflow hole, which can hook up a hose into another garbage can. I wrote extensively on rain-barrels, plus post pics. the below thread:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2132625/rain-barrels-and-garden-tips-and-lessons-learned?n=19

Thank you for such much great information!