So I ordered an Apollo standard starter kit from the U.S. and was disappointed with the flavour of their one and only tobacco flavoured cartos, short battery life, short carto life and cost. Then I found this forum. I am considering the 510 starter kit from Altavape. Great price, but is it worth it? I see that I can save a bunch by buying juice and filling my own cartos, so that is good, I just do not want to get the hardware wrong again. I really want something that looks similar to a real cigarette. Any advise is welcome.
Advise for newbie?
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the most recomended cig-alike is the volt by smokeless image they have a large fan base and i hear alot of great things about this vendor i have never orderd from them but any vendor that can garner that much positve feedback has to be worth their weight in gold...
The price is right but you do get what you pay for .... It might be good, it might be junk. Maybe the eCab might be good starter alternative however more bucks.
Vapor Chase has a review on Youtube for it VaporChase Review - Joyetech eCab from VaporGeek - YouTube.
BTW, the 510 does not get great battery life and I suspect that the Apollo starter kit is in fact a 510 kit .... many sellers get the same product and resell them as a 'branded' product. So you will be getting the same thing.
There are so many great products on the market these days that it is no easy task to decide what to get and what to recommend.
Maybe the Apollo starter kit is a KR-808 variation?
Vapor Chase has a review on Youtube for it VaporChase Review - Joyetech eCab from VaporGeek - YouTube.
BTW, the 510 does not get great battery life and I suspect that the Apollo starter kit is in fact a 510 kit .... many sellers get the same product and resell them as a 'branded' product. So you will be getting the same thing.
There are so many great products on the market these days that it is no easy task to decide what to get and what to recommend.
Maybe the Apollo starter kit is a KR-808 variation?
Well, the apollo kit batteries are 180 mAh and the 510s are 280 mAh. I have little knowledge, so is that a big difference?
Thanks, I will check out the volt. Do any of the Canadian suppliers sell it?
Hands down the Volt is the best look alike cig type device 
Although once you get past the look-alike cig type, get yourself an Ego Twist for all day battery life and better throat hit and flavor.
Although once you get past the look-alike cig type, get yourself an Ego Twist for all day battery life and better throat hit and flavor.
Ahh .. ok, first off, the 510 batteries are 150 or 180 mah for manual batteries - with a button and currently 220 mah for the automatic - no button, for the short 65mm. The longer 90mm batteries are currently 280 mah for manual and 340 mah for automatics. But the numbers are all over depending who makes them.
Joyetech I believe originally made the 510, but now 510 is commonly used more for a connector name, hence all 510 stuff is essentially interchangeable, with slim style e-cigarettes or with huge devices. SO ... before you ditch the entire kit, assuming that the apollo is a 510 connection, you could try LR cartomizer. Something like; Boge Cartomizer 5 Pack LR or SR Black or Stainless or Smoktech 1.7 Single Coil Cartomizer 5 Pack Stainless. Lower resistance or ohms will give you more vapor on a low powered device and a better juice.
You will never get great battery life from something the size of a cigarette. If you were a pack a day smoker, you are probably using the e-cigarette even more often and most people get about an hour with a slim battery. If you want hours and hours of use, you will need to get a bigger battery - something like an ego. You will always be a charging one battery and using the other with any slim style e-cigarettes.
I'd suggest looking at these threads; http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...mmercial-pvs-category-vendor-via-pm-only.html and http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...w-nic-supplier-list-via-pm-only-part-2-a.html.
The bloog and volt are both popular small kits, I believe they are both 808 connections, but I'd try this personally if I were to buy a new starter kit; http://www.happyvaper.com/Redds_Premium_Starter_Kit_p/reddskit.htm or I'd buy the Joyetech 510 and replace the atomizers with cartomizers. However randomly suggesting more kits to buy without figuring out exactly what you have or expect to get, seems silly to me.
I could explain much more, but your information is so vague I don't even know where to start. Do you have a link to apollo kit ? How long are the batteries lasting, what are you expecting ? Did you get a charging case ?
Joyetech I believe originally made the 510, but now 510 is commonly used more for a connector name, hence all 510 stuff is essentially interchangeable, with slim style e-cigarettes or with huge devices. SO ... before you ditch the entire kit, assuming that the apollo is a 510 connection, you could try LR cartomizer. Something like; Boge Cartomizer 5 Pack LR or SR Black or Stainless or Smoktech 1.7 Single Coil Cartomizer 5 Pack Stainless. Lower resistance or ohms will give you more vapor on a low powered device and a better juice.
You will never get great battery life from something the size of a cigarette. If you were a pack a day smoker, you are probably using the e-cigarette even more often and most people get about an hour with a slim battery. If you want hours and hours of use, you will need to get a bigger battery - something like an ego. You will always be a charging one battery and using the other with any slim style e-cigarettes.
I'd suggest looking at these threads; http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...mmercial-pvs-category-vendor-via-pm-only.html and http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...w-nic-supplier-list-via-pm-only-part-2-a.html.
The bloog and volt are both popular small kits, I believe they are both 808 connections, but I'd try this personally if I were to buy a new starter kit; http://www.happyvaper.com/Redds_Premium_Starter_Kit_p/reddskit.htm or I'd buy the Joyetech 510 and replace the atomizers with cartomizers. However randomly suggesting more kits to buy without figuring out exactly what you have or expect to get, seems silly to me.
I could explain much more, but your information is so vague I don't even know where to start. Do you have a link to apollo kit ? How long are the batteries lasting, what are you expecting ? Did you get a charging case ?
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First off let me say - I have the Redds kit and I love my Redds kit. It is a complete kit, that gives you the look and feel of a pack of smokes and the recharging case means you've always got a spare battery. I like to use it when I'm going to work or a social function where I don't want to pull out a big 1000 mah Ego Twist with and Vivi Nova tank and get a whole bunch of looks or comments.
There are two cons with the Redds - one is that it seems to only work with cartomizers, so if you want something that will last all day, you'll have to bring a bottle of juice to top them up. I hate fiddling with stuff, so I prefer to fill a big tank and be done with it for the day. The second con is that it seems like only the proprietary cartomizers work well with the batteries. Which means you either stock up big on the cartos or incure shipping costs each time you get more cartos (cause you always need more cartos).
I started with the Redds but have expanded my hardware as I learned more about what I want from vaping (flavour, simplicity, geekiness) and what equipment seems to work best together and for me. I have the Riva batteries (more power, hours and I can use a variety of tanks, cartomizers, clearomizers, etc), the Ego Twist (more power with the ability to vary the voltage - juices taste different at certain voltages so you can play around to find your favourite juices sweet spot, can uses just about any of the tanks, etc on it), and now the ESCO2 ( a bit more power than the Riva but really just the geek factor on this one ... I'm so ashamed).
If you are in an area where there are other vapers, one of the best things (and I wish i had done this) is to meet up with them and get some first hand experience with the look and feel of different equipment and determine if you're more interested in function or form when it comes to equipment. Plus, if you're nice, they may let you sample some ejuices and you can get an idea of what flavours you might like and which flavours you will want to avoid.
There are two cons with the Redds - one is that it seems to only work with cartomizers, so if you want something that will last all day, you'll have to bring a bottle of juice to top them up. I hate fiddling with stuff, so I prefer to fill a big tank and be done with it for the day.
The second con is that it seems like only the proprietary cartomizers work well with the batteries. Which means you either stock up big on the cartos or incure shipping costs each time you get more cartos (cause you always need more cartos).I started with the Redds but have expanded my hardware as I learned more about what I want from vaping (flavour, simplicity, geekiness) and what equipment seems to work best together and for me. I have the Riva batteries (more power, hours and I can use a variety of tanks, cartomizers, clearomizers, etc), the Ego Twist (more power with the ability to vary the voltage - juices taste different at certain voltages so you can play around to find your favourite juices sweet spot, can uses just about any of the tanks, etc on it), and now the ESCO2 ( a bit more power than the Riva but really just the geek factor on this one ... I'm so ashamed).
If you are in an area where there are other vapers, one of the best things (and I wish i had done this) is to meet up with them and get some first hand experience with the look and feel of different equipment and determine if you're more interested in function or form when it comes to equipment. Plus, if you're nice, they may let you sample some ejuices and you can get an idea of what flavours you might like and which flavours you will want to avoid.
So, upon doing a bit more research, I found out that I can buy an adapter for my Apollo Standard batteries so I can use 510 cartomizers. This would enable me to use blank 510 cartomizers and re-fill them with the juice of my choice, thus giving me a much better selection of flavours and reducing the costs considerably. Since the kit I bought came with a pcc, as long as I carried it with me, I think I could live with the relatively short battery life. This way, all of the hardware I bought wouldn't be useless to me. What do you folks think? Also, is there any reason why I couldn't fill a couple of cartomizers and carry them around with me? Do they leak or anything? Apart from the cartomizers and juice, do I need any other equipment to re-fill them?
I often carry cartos with me. Fill and use the silicone condoms that came on the carto to keep it sealed. If in doubt, small zip lock bags are very handy. Also, keep tissues close at hand when you change cartos.
A little battery is never going to last you the whole day, as I said you'll always be charging one and using another, but since you have the apollo pcc ( personal charging case ) this shouldn't be too annoying. For one battery to last all day, you'll need something like an ego 1000mah, but that is going to be quite big (cigar sized).
I assumed this was a standard 808 or 510 connection kit - in which case cartomizers are easy to find. I couldn't figure it out and talked to someone on live chat, who said it was a DSE108 or RN4081 connection. I'm not even familiar with that threading and that narrows down options. Assuming the mah isn't bad on the batteries and the case, I'd say stick with the case and get better cartomizers somewhere, but that connection is an an annoying issue. You can as you said get an adapter, not necessarily from them 4081 Battery to 510 Atomizer Adapter.
The problem with all of these kits, is usually they're made cheaper, re-branded, advertised and sold for more than they're worth. Usually the batteries are ok in the grand scheme of things, but the cartomizers and juice are usually sub par.
Now I don't know what to suggest because of that weird adapter. I'd still say with a pcc, that is going to be almost as good as a better 808 or 510 kit like the Redd's, if you got better cartomizers and juice. The adapter is just pretty annoying though.
You can fill and carry around cartomizers as people said and the case probably fits a few. They shouldn't leak, but they tend to a bit so using the condom (rubber caps) is a good idea. For filling you only need the bottle, cartomizer and something to get the caps of the cartomizers off. You'll probably want a kleenex or something incase you overfill they often leak a bit out of the threaded end, that needs to be wiped off and if you overfill, you can blow them out very gently from mouth piece end into a kleenex on the threaded end.
Edit: Maybe watching some reviews on the Redds would help decide if it's really much better; http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=redds+kit - there are only 3 I think.
I assumed this was a standard 808 or 510 connection kit - in which case cartomizers are easy to find. I couldn't figure it out and talked to someone on live chat, who said it was a DSE108 or RN4081 connection. I'm not even familiar with that threading and that narrows down options. Assuming the mah isn't bad on the batteries and the case, I'd say stick with the case and get better cartomizers somewhere, but that connection is an an annoying issue. You can as you said get an adapter, not necessarily from them 4081 Battery to 510 Atomizer Adapter.
The problem with all of these kits, is usually they're made cheaper, re-branded, advertised and sold for more than they're worth. Usually the batteries are ok in the grand scheme of things, but the cartomizers and juice are usually sub par.
Now I don't know what to suggest because of that weird adapter. I'd still say with a pcc, that is going to be almost as good as a better 808 or 510 kit like the Redd's, if you got better cartomizers and juice. The adapter is just pretty annoying though.
You can fill and carry around cartomizers as people said and the case probably fits a few. They shouldn't leak, but they tend to a bit so using the condom (rubber caps) is a good idea. For filling you only need the bottle, cartomizer and something to get the caps of the cartomizers off. You'll probably want a kleenex or something incase you overfill they often leak a bit out of the threaded end, that needs to be wiped off and if you overfill, you can blow them out very gently from mouth piece end into a kleenex on the threaded end.
Edit: Maybe watching some reviews on the Redds would help decide if it's really much better; http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=redds+kit - there are only 3 I think.
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You may also want to get a larger unit(900-1100mah ego or twist etc.) for when you're
kicking around the house or for back up or for when the small batts are charging.
The twist can be got for 25 bucks or so and will accept pretty much all 510 and ego style cartos, attys, clearos or tanks.
I went for a couple different passthru type batteries that allow me to vape while
charging thru a usb connection. Most passthru units come including the charging cable.
http://www.canvape.com/Joyetech-eGo-C-upgrade-pass-through-battery-p/joyeptcup.htm
Cheers
kicking around the house or for back up or for when the small batts are charging.
The twist can be got for 25 bucks or so and will accept pretty much all 510 and ego style cartos, attys, clearos or tanks.
I went for a couple different passthru type batteries that allow me to vape while
charging thru a usb connection. Most passthru units come including the charging cable.
http://www.canvape.com/Joyetech-eGo-C-upgrade-pass-through-battery-p/joyeptcup.htm
Cheers
Thanks for all the tips, folks. What I have done is to order the blank cartomizers from Apollo, and a couple of different kinds of tobacco flavoured juice. I will continue to use the pcc and batteries. I have also ordered a usb passthrough for when I am at home, or I can use it when I am at work (I drive truck). The kit only came with 5 disposable cartomizers and I didn't like the flavour, so I don't think I've really had a chance to properly evaluate this whole vaping thing. Then if I find that this works for me I can look at upgrading equipment later.
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