I've used a combination of CHE's, heat globes, cords and matts and can honestly say that they're all good.... I think it comes down to personal choice... I found that heat cord and heat matts don't get as hot but last longer, CHE's heat up hard and fast and last fairly well and heat globes heat up slower than the CHE's but blow the quickest out of them all.
Find what works for you and your reptile and best of luck... I will say that I don't recommend the use of heat rocks (the artificial rock type heat source) as they seem to heat up quite hot, stay hot and have the potential to cause major burns especially with snakes when they wrap around them... There was a thread about heat rocks a little while back... Very nasty...