Leaford's M-401 from LiteCigUSA Video Review and Demo

**leaford** · 11-15-2008, 06:56 PM

YouTube - Leaford's M-401 from LiteCigUSA Video Review and Demo

Name: LiteCigUSA’s M-401 Gold Edition
Category: Supermini, similar to DSE-103
Website: www.LiteCigUSA.com; LITECIG
Price: $46.95; 39.95EU
Shipping, etc.: $7 shipping
Total Price: $64.95; 56.70EU
Warranty/Guarantee: 6 Months
Overall Rating: 3.9
Pros: Lightweight, small size, nice look, outstanding vapor, excellent battery life.
Cons: Short cartridge life, no interchangeability.

Atomizer Performance: 4
1- Smoke; 4
2- Draw; 4
Battery Performance: 3.5
1- Switch; 4
2- Battery life; 3
Overall reliability and performance: 4
Appearance, Design and Build Quality: 4

Customer Service Experience: Limited. Orders ship quickly.
Contents: Standard. One atomizer, two batteries, one charger, one power cord.

Battery charging times: 8 hours initial charge, 3-4 hours regular charge.

Interchangeability: None.

Narrative review: This is the mini to almost make me change my mind about minis. Despite it’s petite size, this little powerhouse produces as much vapor as most penstyles, and more than some! Add in impressive battery life, and decent cartridge life, and it’s almost enough to convert me from my beloved pens!

The appearance is quite striking. The sleek glossy black finish, with wide gold collar, and matching gold smoke emblem set it quite apart from any other minis. Besides looking good, the collar is the female battery connector, as opposed to having a male connector like most minis. The collar makes it easier and less messy to handle the atomizer without a cartridge or battery, which is nice.

The atomizer design is different than most other minis; although it’s the same basic design as a DSE-103, with the wire arch projecting above the barrel, and the cartridge fixed inside the mouthpiece, a couple of small design differences have made a huge difference in performance.

The wire arch is much broader and wider than a typical 103, almost as broad as the cartridge mouth, and almost flat on top, thus providing tons of surface area and contact with the cartridge to transfer and hold liquid.

Secondly, and I am not sure how this helps, but the arch is wide enough to look into the heating pot, and the heating coil isn’t packed in steel wool like on typical atomizers. It’s bare in the center of the ceramic chamber.

The result is excellent vapor, a good 4 on my 1-5 scale, more than any mini I’ve tried before. The draw is also nice and light, a 4. That gives the atomizer performance a 4 overall.

The battery life is impressive for a mini. Typically around 80 good five-second puffs, and as many as 90 before full discharge, although vapor levels started to drop and become inconsistent after 70 or so. I’d say 80 good puffs is about right. That puts it at a 3, excellent for a mini, and just behind penstyles, which typically get 100 good hits and score a 4. The switch is a little slow starting, so the first drag is often weak. Otherwise performance is good, so it scores a 4 for switch reliability. That averages to a battery performance of 3.5.

Overall reliability is good, I give it a 4 for reliability. And although there are no options on appearance, the basic black with the wide gold band and the gold smoke emblem is a very attractive look. The design and build quality are also superb, and lend to both the appearance, and the performance, so I’m giving it a 4 for Appearance and Design.

That averages out to an overall rating of 3.9 out of 5. All around, the M-401 is an excellent e-cigarette, and outstanding for a supermini. The vapor is just tremendous considering its size, and the battery life impressive.

All in all, with outstanding performance, attractive and distinctive appearance, and a low price, plus 6 month guarantee, the M-401 from www.LiteCigUSA.com is a great choice for a supermini e-cig.

**Monroe** · 11-15-2008, 08:31 PM

I've been wanting to try one of these! Thanks for the review Leaford ^_^

**dc2k08** · 11-16-2008, 02:18 AM

thanks leaford. 80 drags per battery ?
is that 80 of your power drags or normal drags. would you say the battery matches a 901 ? (which i have also never used)

also i have a request if i may be so bold...next vid you do, could you take one normal drag as you would do with a ciggie ? i cant really do those power drags.

**leaford** · 11-16-2008, 03:26 AM

Well, I do the full 5 second puffs in order to keep consistent timing; a puff count is only meaningful if all puffs are a regular length. So, yeah, that's 80 5-second puffs.

Besides, it just gets to be a habit.

But a regular quick puff like on a cigarette doesn't do much. The heating coil takes a second or so to heat up and begin vaporizing, so you have to take at least a couple seconds drag, or else prime it with a couple quick hard puffs first. I don't like to prime it, so I take long drags.

That's in general; on the 401 in particular, the heating coil is kind of a slow starter, so you definitely have to take at least a 3 second puff or so.