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Choosing an E-Cig - my process, with hindsight
A couple weeks ago - I’m a newbie - I spent about 15-20 hours researching e-cigs, 98% of the time reading threads here. This research led me to purchase 510s for my wife and I. Come to find out, I don’t love my 510, but my wife does.
I started a thread looking for something better for me - Not loving my 510. What's better for me?. One of the replies got me to thinking about why I made the decision to purchase a 510. In hindsight, some of the decisions where wrong, mainly due my misconceptions or my failure to find specific information during my research. I think it might be useful for some newbies to learn from my research and mistakes, so I figured that I’d document my hindsight.
Please note that I am a newbie, and I don’t know everything about e-cigs. Thus, I try to be clear about what I know and don’t know. I will likely have some mistakes in this post, so I’m hoping that some knowledgeable folks come forth and correct them
Vaping with an Auto Battery vs Manual Battery
Pressing a button or not meant nothing to my wife or I. Thus this was not given any consideration in our choice.
Automatic unexpected activation
Many people mentioned that autos can go off without drawing (do to loud noises and such). That scared us away from autos a bit.
I now feel this is unfounded, and is likely to happen only in extreme situations (rock concerts, clubbing, etc). I have attempted to get my auto 901 to activate and have failed despite some clever attempts. So I should not have considered this to be a concern.
Manual unexpected activation
IMHO, this is easily avoided. This was not considered to be a negative point.
Auto vs Manual and Dripping
When people did discuss flavor, it seemed to be when discussing dripping, which many say produces better flavor. I knew that I’d be doing a lot of dripping because I knew that I would be trying many e-juice flavors, as well as mixing my own e-juice.
Dripping is not recommended for automatic batteries, because these batteries have a hole in the top. This hole is right against the atomizer, and it’s necessary for the battery to sense when someone is sucking on it. Dripping can be a little messy, since it’s easy to drip too much, and the excess flows down through the bottom of the atomizer, and often continues down into that hole in the battery. Getting juice into an automatic battery can screw them up. It’s not a certainty that it will happen, but it’s a possibility.
Manual batteries do not have that hole since they don’t need to sense when someone sucks on the e-cig. Pressing a button starts the battery. So the hole doesn’t exist, and the top of the battery is sealed. If any excess juice falls through the atomizer it can not possibly run into the battery.
It was obvious, to me, that I *needed* to go with manual batteries. Now I know better, and I’m just careful when I drip. I fully expect to destroy a battery or two dripping with an automatic, but I can afford a couple mistakes like that, so I don’t mind. If you’re on a tight budget, so it might be important to you. If so, drip with a manual battery, or don’t drip until you know your e-cig quite well.
Manual vs Auto availability
In my research, the 510 was the only e-cig with a manual battery. (Well, that’s my memory of it two weeks later.) Today, I can’t understand how I could have missed that others have manual batteries, and manuals are now made for some e-cigs that have traditionally been automatics. These manuals-for-automatic-ecig batteries seem to be rare, so that may why I missed them, but they do exist for some (if not all) automatic e-cig models. So don’t get hung up on a model because it doesn’t come with a manual battery.
And this goes the other way around - I now know that you can get automatic batteries for 510s.
In a nutshell, the e-cig model does not always dictate the battery type - though some batteries may be difficult to find.
Flavor
I didn’t find much information about each unit’s affect on the e-juice flavor experience. There was a lot of talk about Throat Hit, but I don’t remember many discussion about the best unit(s) if one is interested in flavor. Come to find out, that’s important to me, so I am upset at myself for not considering it. It’s more important to me than throat hit. I wish that I had known to research this area more.
Units that run hot, like the 510, have a tendency to reduce the flavor from the e-juice. Cooler units like the 801 allow for more flavor to come through. There is are some general trade-offs in all this: Hotter means more throat hit and more vapor but means a reduction in flavor. Cooler means more flavor but comes with a reduction in vapor and throat hit. Alas, these last two statements are generalizations, and are not always true for every unit. There are some units - especially the big battery mods - that change the rules a bit. So, if you’re interested in flavor, then do more research. (That is, don’t make the same mistake I made, and DO NOT trust those two generalizations I made!)
High Bridge vs Low Bridge
I’m still finding out about the differences in bridges (the visible half-loop of material inside the atomizer which wicks the e-juice into the true wick inside the coil). Apparently there are some atomizers which have a high bridge (ie; a large and tall half-loop) versus a low bridge (smaller and shorter half-loop). Some people say that short bridge produces better flavor. It does not appear that all e-cig models even have a choice of bridge heights. Ah, heck, this is probably just more gobbledy-.... which just makes the decision even harder. Well, it certainly will, since you may now have to choose between a true old-style 801 atomizer or a BE112 atomizer. Argh! Frustrating, isn’t it, to have all these decision points? I didn’t know about this difference when I did the research, so it’s probably a good thing.
Lesson learned - if you try to pay attention to too many things then you will never be able to make a decision. Don’t get hung up on any one thing.
Throat Hit
Both my wife and I thought we would want a good throat hit. That pointed to the 510 with it’s reputation for great throat hits.
Come to find out, we are split on this. She likes a good throat hit, I like a mild one.
Size
Both of us felt that we'd want a unit close in size to a real cigarette. Points towards 901 / 510 / etc, and points away from the larger units like the 801. I now know that this incorrect desire was detrimental in my decision-making process. If any newbies are reading this trying to decide which unit to get, DO NOT consider the size of the e-cig. You only *think* you care about the size. I've been at this 10 days, and I love my wife's huge 801 and I have a humungous Prodigy on the way. Do not consider size when deciding which e-cig to purchase.
Battery Life
We both wanted longer battery life. Do to our mistake concerning size, this gave a slight nod towards the 510 and removed all consideration for the minis. Given my current lack of concern over the size of the e-cig I should have gone for an 801.
Or I could have bought extra batteries. Have you seen the batteries on a 510, let alone a 201? They’re tiny. You could carry 5 in your pocket and barely notice. Granted, purchasing a large number of batteries is expensive.
But as I said somewhere else in this post, we are rarely far from a power source nowadays. IMHO, battery life is only a concern for those folks who might be away from a power course, or without a PCC, for extended periods of time. Don’t discount it completely, but it’s probably not as important as you might think. (Unless you think it’s a major irritant to change a battery 3 or 4 times a day.)
Cartridge Size and Life
The cartridge size dictates how much e-juice the e-cig can hold before it needs refilling. I did not consider this too much, since I had pretty much decided on the 510 by this point in my research.
I should have considered cartridge size, since the 510 is too small for my commute to work, and it’s difficult to change cartridges at 80mph, let alone dripping or refilling a cart. An 801 and it’s large cart would have alleviated this.
But for now I just carry two 510s in my pocket. Given the “need” to have spares of everything, it’s pretty easy to carry 2 or 3 complete e-cigs around. Now that I know better, I’m less concerned about cartridge size - though it is a bit of a distraction to refill my cart once an hour.
Personal Carrying Case (PCC)
When I read about the PCC and it’s ability to recharge several batteries I just knew that I had to have one. This was a no-brainer.
Then again, as I said above in “Battery Life”, it is fairly easy to carry 2 or 3 e-cigs around. It’s rare for any of us to be away from electricity nowadays, and there are tons of recharge options given the AC and USB chargers out there. Perhaps the PCC isn’t as important as I once thought.
I have it on me constantly - because I own one - but I’m also always next to a charge source, too. I also find the PCC to be less than perfect (it’s a bit too small, there’s places for cartridges but not a bottle of juice, and it’s expensive at approx $25-30). Today, I’d consider a PCC only if I knew that I was going to be away from power for more than the length of 2 or 3 batteries.
One-Stop Shopping
Once I had decided on a 510, I then made a list of everything necessary to outfit my wife and I. We did not skimp - we got every option. Since we were looking at spending $300, I wanted the best price. And I wanted everything in one order from one place in the US (to get fast, cheap shipping). I had a nice Excel spreadsheet with 10 or 12 places listed, prices for each item, what they had in stock, etc.
Forget about it. Someone didn’t have a USB passthrough or PCC, another place didn’t have much e-juice, another place didn’t have this or that or it was the wrong color for my wife. In the end I had to order things from 3 different places.
USB Passthrough
The USB Passthrough for the 510 - the one with the little box containing an inline battery - has been known to upset some users who expect to power the atomizer directly from USB. Some places are clear that their USB PT has a battery, but one has to read the page to see that. So some folks jump to the conclusion that “USB Passthrough” means that they’ll never have to buy another battery again. With the 510, this isn’t the case. It has a battery that is recharged by the USB power, but hitting off the e-cig is actually powered by the battery. Thus one gets the correct 3.6 volts, not 5 volts like USB supplies. One also gets sufficient amperage, not the 500ma - or possibly even 100ma - that USB supplies.
The typical one for the 510 also isn’t made all that well, and I’ve seen many posts complaining about them. I can certainly agree that the build quality is simple with very thin wires. I won’t be surprised when mine fails to function one day. Other USB Passthrough devices - including PureSmoker’s version for the 510 - run from USB power, and some are much better made.
When researching, I *had* to have a USB PT since I’m in front of a computer 10+ hours a day. But I’ve found the cord to be a little bit of a hassle, and I like the freedom of batteries. I will soon be getting a Prodigy, which has enough battery power to last a long time, so the USB PT will be even less important.
The PT can certainly save you money since you won’t eat up the life of your batteries. A PT with a short life span probably won’t save you much at all. When deciding on an e-cig, consider your need for a Passthrough and the quality of the ones available.
Draw Smoothness
This is one area that I failed to research and apparently never stumbled upon during my research so I missed it. I consider my 510 to be very difficult to draw on. In my opinion it’s like drinking soft ice cream through a drinking straw. It requires a very hard suck to get a decent vape.
But it’s me, not the 510. I’ve tried many 510 atomizers, batteries, cartridges with and without filler, and cartridge filler material mods. I’ve tried my wife’s 510, which she says is fine. It’s not for me. I find the 510 to be difficult to suck through. My 901 draws great. My wife’s new 801 is even better.
Many people will say that the 510’s draw is quite good. I say that it’s all relative. Those same people might think that the 801 draws way too easy. Some people might even consider them all to be the same.
I don’t think this one could be solved without trying one. Go to a mall and try out one of the Smoking Everywhere e-cigs. Don’t buy one, just have them let you try one out. Bring that experience back here and see if anyone can help you find an e-cig that it easier, or harder, to suck through. If at all possible, try 3 or 4 different ones.
This point is my biggest frustration with my 510. I really wish that I had been able to try it before I bought it.
Vapor Production
A lot of people have the idea that an e-cig that produces a ton of vapor is way better than one that produces a little bit of vapor. It probably is. I don’t know. I have yet to figure out what the big deal is, other than the fact that it looks cool when you puff out a huge cloud of “smoke”.
But, as I mentioned, I don’t like a harsh throat hit. Any time I have managed to get a really good vape, with tons of vapor, I’ve also managed to get a noticeable throat hit.
I’d have to think that vapor production also has something to do with the amount of nicotine delivered into your lungs. So if I’m not getting enough vapor I could just switch to a juice with a higher nic content.
But juice made with VG (vegetable glycerin) produces more vapor than juice made with PG (propylene glycol), even if they’re the same nicotine strength.
So what’s the big deal about vapor production (other than the fact that it looks cool)?? I don’t know, but I hope that someone can reply to this thread and explain it.
Wow. I think that’s about it. As you can see, I thought about a lot of things, ignored a few, didn’t know about a bunch more… And still ended up with the wrong model.
Again, though, my wife loves the 510. Maybe I’m just hard to satisfy.
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Originally Posted by Scottes
no more batteries. ever.
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