I own a lot of VV mods, including many tubes and boxes. Five Madvapes VV Boxes; Little Sister, Big Brother, and Big Daddy from Ken's Box Mods; a ShanB Splash with voltage display; an Ovale V8, a Maximum Vapors VV Woodie v1, and a Caged Penguin tin VV with voltage display.
The Madvapes boxes, Big Brother, and Splash use two 14500 batteries in series. The Little Sister uses two 10440s, while the Big Daddy and Penguins mod use two 18650s. The Ovale uses two 18350s.
Some are linear regulators: Madvapes VV Boxes, Little Sister, Big Brother, and Splash. Some are the more efficient switching regulators: Big Daddy, Woodie, Ovale, and Penguin. I don't notice any difference in the vape between linear and switching regulators, but the switching regulators produce less heat and provide longer battery life.
I have mostly loved my Madvapes VV Boxes. The caveat is that I bought nine of them all told---seven without voltage display and two with. After about a year's use, four failed: two of the seven without voltage display and both of the units with voltage displays. Five are still going strong after 18 months average use. Interestingly, the two that had voltage displays both failed the same way---faulty assembly of gluing the connector into the plastic box. Eventually the connector came loose and would spin, breaking the solder connections to the power wire. The problem with repairing Madvapes VV boxes (and many other similar box mods as well) is that the components are covered in hot glue to hold them in place. I'm sure someone sufficiently skilled could get through the hot glue to make repairs, but I couldn't. For what I paid ($35-45), it was less hassle to just pitch them.
The Little Sister is great because it's so tiny. The downside is that it has very small batteries (10440s) that don't last long and cannot maintain higher voltages under load, so that the voltage drop is somewhat pronounced. Most of my other VV boxes have only a very small voltage drop.
The Penguins tin mod is a monster. With a 6-amp OKR switching regulator, it can produce more watts than even the most extreme high-voltage vapor would need. In any normal vaping setting, it has zero voltage drop under load. What you set is what you get. And you get it for a long time with two 18650s providing power. Having a voltage display on the inside is a great help (as are the external displays on the ShanB and Ovale).
Connecting an inline voltage meter can get old after awhile, but it's a necessity with the Madvapes VV Boxes and others where the potentiometer is too sensitive or non-linear, so that the slightest turn of the pot may change the voltage significantly. In those units, you really can't adjust the voltage by eye or feel, so an inline voltage display is a necessity. By contrast, my BuzzPro and iPro have adjustment pots with better linearity, longer turning arcs, and standard markings that make manual voltage adjustments easier and more accurate.
I do appreciate the digital voltage adjustment and atty/carto resistance checking on my tube VVs (ProVari, Vmax, and three Young-June Vtubes), but I still like my VV boxes. While simpler and usually hand-made, they vape just as well.
nothing like wood mod to make your day !! It's a Gepetto and you can find him here as "woodworm" his mods are great, hits like m.v. box ( but all VV's hit about the same) and his artwork can not be beat !! check him out !!
I bought the new Infinity and it is nothing like my old one and my poor old one is now broken
