I almost gave up on vaping until getting the ego C... I made the mistake of asking the guy at the tobacco shop for advice. He set me up with a blu starter kit. That thing nearly drove me crazy. Inconsistent drag, so hard to refil, cartos are overpriced and under nicd.
The Ego C has been a breath of fresh air.. or vapor, as it is.
out of the box it's ready to go. Put one on charge, assemble the other, and start vaping. Batteries last me 15 hours +. It's really amazing how long they last. Especially after changing one every hour.
As has been mentioned, they are very tough. I actually dropped one in the sink. Fully submerged until I could yank it out of there. I marked the battery, so I would know it was my fault when it failed. Only thing I had to do was change out the flooded atty and go back to vaping. No troubles out of the one I tried to kill. The atty is probably fine too. just haven't tried to use it again, yet.
So far, as a brand new vapor fresh off the upgrade from blu's, these things are easy to use, easy to refill, reliable, and low maintenance. If you're new to all this, don't let people scare you away from the tank system. If you get this one, you won't be disappointed.
It's hard for me to imagine a carto performing this well, but I've only tried the blu carts. I don't expect I'll ever go back to any cart now that I'm getting all the advantages of a tank systems with none of the pitfalls.
I almost shyd away when I heard people calling it a beginner model too. I didn't want something else that was just going to irritate me for being almost good enough. I'm glad I went for it anyway. It's important to keep in mind this board is full of hobbyists. If you're looking for a no nonsense pv that doesn't look like paraphernalia, does what it's advertised to, and doesn't require daily maintenance, this thing is exactly what you're looking for. If you're looking to upgrade down the line and try the things you read about here, it's friendly to upgrades too. I may experiment some eventually, but I didn't want a hobby - I wanted a tobacco substitute. And that's what I got.
My kit came with the silicone tank covers, so I've had no troubles with leaking tanks. I keep them filled in the box until I need one. I take both batteries loaded with a tank to work every day, but I still haven't used the second one until late at night. When I get home from work, I pull the empty tank, swap it out with one in the box and keep going. I charge the one I used during my last three hours of being awake, though I have yet to actually use a battery till failure. They are usually going blue by 9 or 10 then I'll recharge that one and use the other until I go to sleep.
If I could change something, it would be the mouthpiece and the mouthpiece covers. I lost both my covers the first couple of days. I don't know if they came off in my pocket or what, but they don't stay on well at all. The white plastic also ruins the good look of the unit as a whole. I wish they were colored as the battery and cone are (mine's black). I also wish the tank would hold about 50% more juice. Then I wouldn't have to swap after work. LOL. Minor details, and part of the reason I chose this one is you can't see the tank when in general use. In other words, the people I work with wouldn't freak out about it. Just looks more like an e-cigar than an e-cig. When compared to a half empty blue carto, I've got no complaints.
Though I don't have much experience with this stuff, I can tell this is a well designed unit. After reading much about the ego-t's, it's clear joyetech set out to correct it's issues. IMHO, they did a great job. I'm going to buy the exact same kit for my wife. If she doesn't use it, I'll do some playing around with hers for home use mods.
Anyway, thanks to those on the boards who led me to these.