Great hardware experience from bestecig, here. My wife & I are 7 weeks without analogs, using the black 901's. I'll pass on my 2 cents as a first-timer:
Drip yourself. Pre-filled 901 carts are okay, but you'll quickly wish you could try many different flavors from many different sources. There's also the Straw Mod and PTB Mods to enhance the wicking of the ejuice to the atomizer. Rinse out your carts and save them - they're refillable! Get some extras, as well - they're cheap.
Batteries die. It's just a fact. They're also finicky beasts, especially the automatics. I would have started with manuals if I had it to do over again. The problem is that your vapor production goes down as your battery gets weaker, and having the auto cut off can be problematic. With manuals, you can control how long your drag is, which helps a lot. The good news is that bestecig stands behind your batteries. I replaced my dead ones with manuals on my next order, free of charge! That's great customer service. If you spend a good deal of time at a computer, the new 901 manual passthrough works great. It even seems to put out more voltage, for an even better throat hit. I was a pack-a-day smoker, and can easily go through 2-3 batteries a day. Get a USB charger, too. You never know when you'll want to have 2 batts on charge at the same time.
They say the 901 provides better flavor due to lower voltages, but some folks prefer the 501 for better throat hit. I've only tried the 901, but several flavors seemed very mild at the start. It was awfully hard to tell the difference between Flue Cured and Marlboro, for instance. I think part of that is your taste buds coming back after quitting analogs.
The Flue-cured tasted a bit like mild, sweet tobacco. The Marlboro was even more tobacco-like, with a hint of cola taste. The RY4's carmel-tobacco taste was our favorite. The 555 is a peanut-ty, kind of sweet tobacco taste. The coffee tasted like sweetened asian canned coffees, and the (strong) clove tasted just like djarum - at first. After a while, the clove and coffee took on an unpleasant chemical taste. My wife describes it as Raid bug spray - yuck. We did, however, enjoy most the RY4, Flue-Cured, Marlboro and 555.
I think I'll be getting my e-liquids from other suppliers, but the bestecig 901 hardware has been very good for us. After having around 4 atomizers on heavy rotation between me & my wife for 7 weeks, I've only had 1 go bad, and it was again replaced for free on my next order. For the $$ you could spend on starter kits at the mall, you can outfit yourself with plenty of extras right out of the gate here.
If I had it to do over again, I'd order the following for one person: At least 5 batteries (manual would be my choice), 5 atomizers, a few boxes of carts to try different flavors and then refill, A/C charger, USB charger and manual USB passthru. That should total about $120 for a starter kit that puts others to shame.
Thanks, bestecig - I look forward to my next bubble-wrap and packing tape football!
