I will give one vote of trust to the Provari. I ordered a chrome one on Friday with the ext cap and 2x18650 batteries, and since then im bitting my nails all day waiting for it to ship! Just one question though, i ordered the standard charger, forgot to go for the pila. Is this bad? How many hrs will my batteries need to be fully charged?
I have to say that i too wasted money left and right because i was a complete newbie on the subject. I could have bought the provari easily if i knew from the begining.
I'd order a Pila when you can, but it isn't the end of the world. Just make sure you check the voltage when you put in a fresh battery (Can do it right on the Provari). It's normal for a fresh battery to register at around 4.2-4.22v.
As for charge time, a couple hours should see them at full.