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Now I am not speaking from experience here, but I asked a similar question last week, and got a good number of varying responses. However one member in particular, UncleChuck, broke it down for me in a way that allowed me to make a decision. So i don't know if I am breaking rules or not, but here is his post that helped me make my decision. Hope it helps.
Welcome to ECF!
You sound like a guy who knows what he wants, but just doesn't quite have the knowledge or experience with PVs to track down something that will fit his needs to the T. I like that! Makes it a lot easier to suggest things, as we don't have to guess what you would like, you already know. So, here are my suggestions:
You say you were looking at the Bolt. I like mine, it was my first APV, and I still use it on occasion to this day, even though I have several variable wattage devices. One thing about the Bolt, which had I known at the time, I probably would not have bought it: THE BUTTON.
The silly button that they use in the Bolt is pure garbage. It cannot handle much power, at all it seems. Mine burned out shortly after getting it. I bought a replacement switch for it, which was a total PITA to install. Now, I used to be into high-end hobby-level R/C cars. I am highly experienced in soldering from teeny tiny circuit board to soldering 10ga stranded wire to motor terminals. I know what I'm doing in that regard, but I failed at installing a new switch. There is very little room inside the head of the Bolt, which you wouldn't imagine seeing as it's pretty large on the outside.
The button is huge, the interior plate that covers up all the guts of the Bolt's head is extremely close to the interior of the button, and the inside of the 510 connection is close to the switch as well. Why am I saying all this? Because when using a guage of wire suitable for the current we are dealing with here, it's pretty hard to get the wires from the 510 connection, to the switch, then from the switch to the inside positive battery terminal. Once everything was soldered together, I tried jamming it all back inside the Bolt's head. Every time there was either a short, the switch terminals would break off (went through several switches) or there wasn't enough room to put the plate back in.
All that means, really, is that the switch is a major weak point, and is pretty difficult to replace (at least for me) Madvapes is selling an entire replacement head for the Bolt, which features an eGo like connection with the well, which allows you to use Stardust style clearos and other things that have eGo skirting. It's close to 20 bucks, though, so it really adds to the price of the bolt.
I've got that replacement head, along with an 18650 extension and I have more money into my Bolt than I do my Vamo. And my Vamo is a far superior variable wattage device, so honestly I don't think the Bolt is worth the money any more.
Back in the day when simple mechanical mods were all the rage, and variable voltage or otherwise regulated mods were more expensive, the Bolt was a good buy. Now, you can get very good quality VV/VW devices for close to, if not the same price, or even sometimes cheaper than you can get a Bolt for.
If you are after variable voltage or wattage devices, I would seriously consider picking up a Vamo. Here are two great reviews:
A PBusardo Review - The Vamo - YouTube
REVIEW OF THE VAMO VV VW ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE - YouTube
I also have a Zmax that generally costs around/over $100. The Vamo is about half that. And I personally feel the Vamo is a better device. The screen is superior (OLED vs old school 7-segment LED screen) so all your settings are very simple to read, no trying to figure out what your device is displaying. The Vamo also is a 3-button device, where as the Zmax is a single button device. This makes adjusting your volts/watts, checking head unit resistance, and remaining battery voltage VERY VERY easy. With the Zmax it takes much longer and is more frustrating.
Unless you have a problem with the way the Vamo looks, I don't think you will be disappointed at all. Plus, in stock configuration (meaning no buying extra stuff) it has 3 battery configurations: a single 18650, a single 18350, or two 18350. The Zmax cannot use a single 18350 (without ghetto rigging some crazy long extension) and it cannot use dual 18350s without buying an extension cap that costs around 10 bucks.
Even though you are new to vaping, you'll have zero issue "figuring out" a Vamo. It's just not complicated, at all. Throw a battery in, screw down an atty, and your good to go. Then easily adjust your power to suit your preference.
For the price of a Zmax, or an eVic, you can have a Vamo, two 18350s, two 18650s, and a charger. It's a really, really good deal for a really, really good device.
As far as a Provari, if you like them and are willing to spend the cash go for it! No reason to purposefully stay in the "low-end" just because you are new. These devices really aren't that complicated, I don't really get why some people always think new vapers are mentally incompetent and unable to do something as simple as figuring out how many times to press a button to set your power.
The Provari is a very, very well build piece of kit, although in my opinoin it's a big behind the times. An old school two digit, 7 segment LED screen. A single button user interface. Variable volage only, no variable wattage. Where the Provari shines is it's regulation circuit, that is prett much THE most accurate one around, and its build quality.
But the new, cheaper variable mods coming out of China are really stepping it up. The version 2 Zmax and Vamo are both pretty damn accurate in RMS mode, close enough to the Provari that I wouldn't personally care.
Basically, the only reason to NOT get a Provari is if you don't like how it looks, you don't like the user interface, or can't/don't want to spend that kind of money. If you think it looks cool, have a few hundo to burn, and don't mind the old school UI and lack of variable wattage, then just get one!
As far as toppers, you say you don't like Attys so I'll ignore those (although the new Vision Eternity is a rebuildable atty, looks great, is about 30 bucks, and performs awesome, also holds about 30 drops without any leakage, something no other drippy atty can claim)
Smoktech makes Ego Mega Dual Coil Cartomizers (EMDCC for short) that are available all over the web in both Black, Stainless, and clear plastic. They put out a monster throat hit, good vapor, and decent flavor. The reason I mention these is that they hold a good 4mils of juice, more than some tanks, without any of the tank-related issues. These are good solid cartos, cheap (usually 3 bucks each or so) and last a long time.
Here's the black:
eGo Mega Dual Coil Cartomizer, Flat Tip
And Stainless:
Steel eGo Mega Dual Coil Cartomizer, Flat Tip
If you don't like the rubber flat tip, you can get some huge diameter drip-tips, or you can get a standard tip adaptor that allows you to use normal 510 drip tips with the mega cartos.
Regular cartos are.... well just regular cartos. There are obviously differences between all the different brands and styles, but basically they are all pretty similar. A coil wrapped with filler material which is filled with juice. These days pretty much all the common cartos perform very similar and are of good quality. Just pick whatever size you want (anything from Smoktech's tiny super shorty cartos, to the xxl sized) Bottom coil cartos have a little muted flavor (in my experience) as well as a cooler vape (because of the additional distance the vapor has to travel before reaching your mouth/lungs)
Carto-tanks: I really am fond of carto tanks, and never really had the issues other people talk about (leaking, flooding, burning, blah blah) It's your responsibility to make sure you are matching your juice up to the number/size of holes/slots in the carto. Thick juice, more/bigger holes/slots. Thin juice, less/smaller holes/slots. Pretty simple stuff, get some cartos of varying number of holes so that you can experiment as match your carto to how thick of juice you're using. Because of this matching up you have to do, carto-tanks take a little extra effort to get set up properly, but once they are se up you shouldn't have to touch the things until it's time to refill. In my experience cartos last a lot longer when they are in tanks, due to the fact that the filler material is constantly saturated (assuming you are using the proper juice-hole setup) so you can save a bit of money not burning through cartos all the time.
When you talk about the tanks with tiny cartos, I'm assuming you are referring to the Vivi Nova, or other tanks of similar design. They don't really have a tiny carto in them, as a carto is generally defined as having both a coil and filler material. These styles don't have filler material, they just have a coil wrapped wick. Many of these you can actually rebuild the coil yourself, even though they aren't really made for that, but it's easy enough that if you want to you can. Not really any reasonable way to rebuild the coil in a cartomizer or a carto-tank.
I've also found that Nova and clearo style tanks are far, far more of a hassle to get "right" You have to tilt your tank to get juice up to the wicks, burnt taste due to lack of proper juice wicking is something many, many people have to contend with. I've been able to get my clearos working to my satisfaction, but it was after a lot of fiddling and tinkering. And then continued fidding. I still hate Vivi Novas, I think they look like crap and I still am unable to get any consistency out of them. Sometimes juice spits up into your mouth and the thing floods, other times it just decides to stop wicking and you get awful burnt hits. Some people swear by them however, but just figued I'd share my experince, as it's possible it would be yours as well.
Carto-tanks are a good all around functional design. If you want glass tanks, IBTanked - Get Tanked With Us! makes some awesome tanks. You buy the glass tube, and then you can browse the end-cap selection and choose what style you like best.
If you don't care about or want glass, the Artemas tanks are very good tanks. They use Smoktech flanged cartos, and also feature a locking ring. One of the very few carto-tanks to have this setup. This feature means that once you insert a carto and screw down the locking ring, the carto WILL NOT slip/slide/fall out of your tank. It also makes it a lot easier to screw down the tank, as other tanks with no rentention system are able to spin freely on the carto. They are usually about 10 bucks each, and come in chrome, black, or gun metal. The end caps are sealed onto the tube, so you cannot remove them. This also means they won't pop off the tube, so these are by far the most secure tanks out there. They also have a large size that holds about 6mil and a much slimmer model that holds maybe 1.5 mils if you're lucky.
Here are said tanks:
Full-size: Chrome Artemas Locking 510 DCT, Clear
Slim: Chrome Artemas Slim Locking 510 DCT, Clear
I hope this helps somewhat, and this post took me awhile to write up so if I have said anything redundant please forgiveme
Once again welcome to ECF, and vaping, and if you have ANY questions please feel free to ask away to your heart's content!
Dont enter a spelling bee contest.
What do you mean? They only typed one word and it's spelled correctly. Am I missing something?
I have several mods. A Glv2, Zmax, Provari Mini and an itaste mvp. Right now on my Itaste I am using an A7 RBA which costs about 20 bucks and the itaste itself is 65. Its a VV that goes 3.3-5v and has a puff counter. I would recommend getting the Itaste MVP and the A7 rebuildable since they both fit around your price range. It also has an output which can be used to charge your iphone/droid etc. It has a long lasting 2600 mah battery built in. Charger included. I hope this helps.
If the intent is to help a new member, please try to answer the question they asked.
Is this a VAMO clone or did VAMO change the name or something Vision Variable Volt Mod, Gun Metal
Its a Vamo. The Vamo has had more than one name from the get go. Etna, eGo APV...
The Mad Vapes one is more recent - but yes, its a Vamo. They can be bought cheaper than that though. Health Cabin call it the eGo Bamboo APV, have it in stainless steel too:
eGo Bamboo APV V2 (Stainless Body) [D-B4 APV Stainless] - $43.50 : Healthcabin Electronic Cigarettes - Wholesale and Retail
Get DHL shipping if you want it to arrive in 3 days. I'd check the total price overall with shipping included between both sites.
the telescope from smoktek is a great mod i love it. its my all day everyday nothing else vape lol also its my only mod so i might be biased as i have never tried any other mod
dont go with the "gun metal" just get the chrome one the gun metal finish wears off fast and leaves the device looking kind of junky. people reviewing it say that its not plated on its just sprayed over the chrome.
Even better to spend a few extra bucks and get the stainless steel.
Sorry,the joke is on me,forgive me ,i was just kiddin,i thought be spelled it wrong
No worries
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