Video Review of the M201 Penstyle

[wegster]

So, here's a penstyle I picked up as 'bought direct from China overstock' from a fellow ECF member. I thought it was an 801 clone, but have had soemone confirm it's not, at least for the atty and coil.

I've found out that:
1. lighting can be a b*tch for showing actual vape on video.
2. It's time to pull out the decent video camera for next time, and backdrop.
3. When the vapor looks lame, wait until the end. :-)

YouTube - M201 Penstyle Initial Review

I 'borrowed' Terraphons' battery rating system, as it's a good idea, at least until we all have 20 hour PVs.

Using same juice across the M201 and 510.

Will review all on hand in a 'shoot-out' between J118, Greencig, KR808D1, 510, M401, etc in one video when I get some time, but right now, I'm kinda liking this guy after a few days non-stop with it...not a bad backup to my 510.

Vapor production - 8
Throat hit - 7
Consistency - 8
Cart life and capacity: 1ml, lasts decently btu not yet counted
Switch sensitivity - 8
Battery Life - 6-7 ~3 hours+
Draw: medium, analog like, similar to 510 but whistle tip.
Overall score - 8

Battery on mine does *not* cutoff, have gone to 10 seconds with LED lit/inhaling, no cutoff yet.

[RsL]

You didn't keep it under 10 minutes....

[RsL]

Weg,

Seriously, I don't know what kind of video cam you are using, but no matter what e-cig you test they all look like they have very little vapor! So open up that wallet of yours and get yourself something better!

[wegster]

Ya, I know it, never planned on doing videos, just sorta 'did.' Using the macbook built-in, it does odd things with lighting.

I've got a tripod and decent digital camcorder, that'll be set up for next ones..isn't so bad during the day, but lighting is fubar with the camera auto-adjusting and lighting conditions, thus the 'ghetto ending'

PS - I kept it under YouTube 'ten minutes,' so..stfu, I tried, alright?

[RsL]

Ya, I know it, never planned on doing videos, just sorta 'did.' Using the macbook built-in, it does odd things with lighting.

Ohhhh....you're using a Mac. Nuff said! haahaaa JK!!

[wegster]

Ohhhh....you're using a Mac. Nuff said! haahaaa JK!!

You're not that far off. been using Linux as a dev system on everything, laptops included since..wow...like '95 onwards (workstations then, not laptops just yet). Finally got a bit annoyed with the tweaking...great for servers, and was getting very good for regular PC and laptop use, except for a few nits. OpenOffice wasn't good enough, fast enough, and a few other tools I need for work, basically a handful of time that was spent sorting out the system at times I needed things to 'just work.' So, I waited until Apple finally made the core2 duo version, and pulled the trigger, figuring I'd just put kubuntu or gentoo on it if OSX pissed me off too badly (anything before OSX 10.3 or so, especially classic = total rubbish). It's slow as an OS, but most things do 'just work.' Now, if only they'd stop doing the '80%' job...it's like they intentionally stop more complex tasks from ever happening in their tools...and they sort of hacked up a perfectly good Unix. Some days I'm *so* ready to wipe it out, other days, I have all my *nix tools via macports, plus some other often used software that 'just works,' when and how I need it to, so..it's still there. iPhoto = crap, iWeb = easy to use but crap...basically for a neophyte it's awesome, but once you want to do something more advanced (embed javascript, edit raw HTML, even just simple photo scaling or filters..)..forget it. Then you have to buy the 'pro' stuff.

Ok, Apple rant over now.. :-)

[Figurehead]

Great review. I'm wondering tho is our have the same batteries. Mine is EXTRA sensitive. I can literaly blow on it and it turns on, even more sensitive than my J118 battery.

Also, mine is hitting in the throat like a freight train. I vape 36 in my e-cigars and 24 in all of my other devices & in the M201 I have had to cut it to about 10-12 strength.

It's my new personal favorite and is responsible for me retiring my e-cigars for a rainy day.

[wegster]

@Figurehead

Well, I do have some M201 'spares' coming from litecig, so will compare. This was essentially direct from manufacturer, so it's possible there's some difference, but seems not so likely.. ? (Unless there's indeed another 'model' out there neither of us know about??)

I've certainly had variance in batteries before on autos, so that's possible too, will compare both of em once they recharge. I've got a 'slow' M401 battery..it works, but really 'delayed' response, both turning on and off, so that could be it, too.

Throat hit on it is decent, and I'm really annoyed with the lighting and cam right now. It's just not > 510. But, is close, and quite enjoyable..at least right now, it's on the keeper list, so much so the pair of batteries I have are both out, and recharging, and they do get decent battery life.

PS - I couldn't resist, and while I typo'd I think ('out' vs 'our'), I couldn't resist the 'special credits,' did you make it to the very end? :-)

[Figurehead]

LOL, yeah. I saw that. That is some funny stuff.

I need to find a better way of catching the vapor as well because even tho you can still see mine on video, it's no where what it's like in real life either. Maybe I need a darker background.

[wegster]

Ambient or 'natural light' seems to do ok, but with it being darker, I was *watching* the camera adjust the light level, definitely was a PITA. As in, the image would lighten or darken even just reaching in front of me for the other e-cig. It may be the funky lighting arrangement I've got in here, not sure. I definitely think the darker background helps, though, as it gives contrast versus the vapor. Once I get that sorted better, think am going to do a quick comparison among all the e-cigs I've got on hand, to ensure identical conditions, etc.

And big, fat meh on the built-in camera I'd been using, good res, flaky/bad auto=adjustment/enhancements.