Does anyone prefer cigalikes to the bigger, more powerful models that most use?

[Jonscf3]

I smoked regular cigarettes (between 15-20 a day) for 20 years, until a about a month ago when my AIO PCC (cig a like) arrived and I haven't touched one since.

I used the cartomizers that came with it and purchased some additional cartomizers as I knew I would be trying different flavours etc, I do like the carto's, they give a good vape and flavour but wasn't a big fan of filling them, just a bit messy for my liking. I then purchased a pack of innokin Tidy 10's (version 3)............ I love them, if done correctly filling is easy and leak free and continue to be leak free whilst using them. I get a great vape and flavour and the whole set up is discreet and looks good.

I also have the standard ego battery and some ce4's, which I tend to use late in the evening but I am noticing that I am using it less now that I am using the Tidy 10's.

I shadow what others have said though, it all about personal preference, I also purchased my wife an AIO PCC, and an eGO with CE4's and she prefers the ego, but will still use the AIO with Tidy 10's for work and being out and about.

 

[mobocracy]

I'm a vaping newbie. Bought a Green Smart cigalike kit ($20?), was impressed enough to look into alternatives and got a Greensmoke kit. I found the Greensmoke Tobacco Gold cartos quite good and the overall experience a LOT like actually smoking -- the hold, the throat hit and the nicotine rush. The downsides? The cartos are expensive ($18/5 at the local B&M), and I find that about 24 hours after starting a fresh carto the vapor drops off a bit, gets less flavorful and a little harsher, even though I get decent vape and nicotine for about 3 days of normal use.

So I got an EVOD kit at a vape speciality B&M along with 3 samples. I pretty much had buyers remorse when I got it home -- I sampled 10-15 flavors at the shop and really didn't think any of the ones were nearly as good as the Greensmoke. I got some Johnson Creek samples and found one I really love -- Red Oak Tennessee Cured, probably better than even a fresh Greensmoke Tobacco Gold. This is great and since I got it I haven't touched my Greensmoke (OK, it's only been 3 days..)

Anyway, why stay with cigalikes? Here's a list.

• More like actually smoking, IMHO. The hold, the throat hit, the size, unless someone looks REAL close or sees the end glowing in a non-orange color, it looks and feels like smoking.
• Less hassle. Just screw on a fresh carto and go. No filling tanks, making a mess, etc.
• Simpler equipment -- while my EVOD setup is simple, it took a bunch of shopping around and research and there are a ton of choices/options and its hard to know what good or good enough.
• I see it refuted here, but it strikes me that cigalikes, at least from the bigger entities, are more holistically engineered -- the flavors, juices, cartos and batteries are more "tuned" to each other than a more manual setup where you're sourcing parts from different setups and where variations occur. I think you can tune a manual setup yourself, but it takes experimenting with different coil resistances, maybe get a high-end spinner or variable wattage battery (which are slick, though I've not used one).
• And most important, it's what YOU like. There are no rules. There is no right answer.

At the end of the day, I think the cigalike setups are better designed to actually replicate smoking a cigarette. There was an article in the NY Times on Sunday interviewing an NJOY exec and they're basically trying to build a better cigarette. It's what they're trying to replicate. Vaping with a liquid-based setup, while good when you find the right kit and juice, is a different experience and takes more time, money and experience to get "right".

I'm going to try to get the best of both worlds -- filling blanks for my Greensmoke batteries with Johnson Creek.