The Ego-T is a cheap "go-to" model, although it's obviously not as sturdy as a Silver Bullet or one of the more expensive, American-made models. I think it depends on the money you have to spend and the amount you vape. If you're just a casual smoker (3-4 cigarettes a day) an Ego-T might be a better investment for you instead of a Silver Bullet although if reliability is your main concern than the Silver Bullet is #1 on the list imo.
Concern: Initial price < Maintenance price
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If you smoke 3-4 cigarettes a day, any e-cig is just going to leave you with a bigger nicotine addiction than you had before. You should probably just try a patch.
Look around here and see how many people post the same old things about the eGo T, every single day. "My ego t tastes bad". I used a cartomizer on my ego T and it's a big improvement.", "Please help me with my ego-T", "Why does my eGo T taste like plastic?", and on and on and on. Every single day, there are posts about some problem or another with an Ego T. The battery itself isn't that bad, it's just weak. It's the "T" gimmick that gives everyone problems. The vast majority of people who rave about the "T" are people who have been using a mini-cig. Most people end up swapping it out for something that actually works without a bunch of hassle or crappy vapor production.
Search for the same types of posts about the kGo, which is cheaper and more powerful, and you won't find hardly any at all. And you don't pay for a gimmicky, over priced tank system that's nothing but a lame attempt to revive the obsolete atomizer/cartridge system.
Look for bad reviews of the Silver Bullet. You won't find them either. The worst thing anyone says about them is that they're fixed voltage or that they're not cheap. A lot of people have 2 or 3 or more Silver Bullets. That tells you something.
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Yes. Take off the stupid "C" element from one battery that'll do 3.7V. Add a 3.7V passthrough battery, so you have 2 X 3.7V batteries, and add cartomizers. There's no reason that couldn't be sold for $55. But they don't do that because they want to sell people their special atomizers and tanks until they wake up and realize they'd have been better off with cartomizers or clearomizers in the first place.
Besides, if they did that, they'd have no marketing edge on the $45 kGo kit, except the passthrough. And the passthrough is only really valuable if you only have one battery or you have very small batteries.
If someone wants a passthrough, they can just buy an ego passthrough battery in the first place for about $25, then add some cartos. The problem is that it'll still be 3.4V, I think. If it's 3.7V it would make more sense than an eGo T or C.
Ya, my first vaporizer (that I owned) was a Silver Bullet and it has been working flawlessly so far although I did give it to one of my relatives to help him quit. I've been using one of the 650mAh Ego vaporizers and apart from a few small nuisances, such as glitching if I overcharge it, it's been working without any problems for about 4 months although it is not built as sturdy as a Silver Bullet and I'm more careful handling the Ego than the Silver Bullet, which I could probably drop off a cliff. If I use a LR atomizer on the Ego, however, I find that there is very little difference in the vapor production although battery life is greater in the Silver Bullet and stays strong for a longer time as a result.
I feel pretty sold on the silver bullet thanks in large part to sailorman. I tried to PM you, but this forum doesn't seem to have the feature.
I still have a few concerns:
Batteries: that AW IMR brand seems awfully pricey. The UltraFire seem legit enough.
Cartomizers/attys: I'm probably going to drip until I find a good juice I enjoy, so I need some recommendations. I figure I'm going to start with 3.7v batteries so I'll get some LR types, I guess.
Addiction: I'm not much concerned about the addiction factor because I can easily shell out $20 a week to get a quick buzz anywhere, but I would be concerned if regular vaporizers felt guilty about it. There's just so much talk about cutting down, and I'm all about busting in. I feel like maybe I'm being naive.
I still have a few concerns:
Batteries: that AW IMR brand seems awfully pricey. The UltraFire seem legit enough.
Cartomizers/attys: I'm probably going to drip until I find a good juice I enjoy, so I need some recommendations. I figure I'm going to start with 3.7v batteries so I'll get some LR types, I guess.
Addiction: I'm not much concerned about the addiction factor because I can easily shell out $20 a week to get a quick buzz anywhere, but I would be concerned if regular vaporizers felt guilty about it. There's just so much talk about cutting down, and I'm all about busting in. I feel like maybe I'm being naive.
First off, my negative assessment of the eGo has as much to do with their gimmick "systems" as anything. I'm also not impressed by 3.4V, whether it comes from my firefly or my VV. I know what 3.4V is, and it doesn't matter what device it comes from. An ego isn't a magic wand to make 3.4V perform like 4V.
You are entitled to think that 3.4V in one set of hands performs differently than 3.4V in another set of hands. I don't consider the Firefly as performing poorly. For a 3.4V device, it's superior in fit and finish to the eGos I've seen. I consider them performing exactly like what I'd expect from a 3.4V device and what I know 3.4V is. I don't consider 3.4v to be a decent amount of voltage for anything other than a 1.5 or 1.7 ohm resistance. I prefer not to be limited to vaping at 2 different wattages and restricted to using only the lowest resistance cartos to get a decent vape.
I have nothing against the eGo form factor. I recommend the kGo and e-Power all the time. What I don't like is the gimmickry of hanging a lame "system" on the end of a low voltage PV and passing it off to newbies as something it isn't. The battery works as well as can be expected from a 3.4V device. The "systems" don't, and they're nothing but a reason to overprice the kits as a way to try to hook people on buying proprietary atomizers and cartridges. I don't like it when mini e-cig manufacturers do it and I don't like it when Joye does it.
And when you try to insist that Joyes own technical specs understate the battery life, then yes, you do sound like you're pushing Joye. Didn't you state that you have more than 2 PV batteries? Don't you think that you would expect them to last longer than the average user who is rotating two batteries?
NO, they're not expensive. But then again, neither is a Blu. They're just needlessly expensive compared to other, better devices. And that's all due to their idiotic C and T "systems". If one e-power wouldn't fit your "profile" because you must have pre-mounted cartos or tanks or "systems", then get a handful of kGos. You'd save money, have a more powerful device than most egos, and you could keep them locked and loaded without the need to subject yourself to the tortuous routine of having to screw a new carto on and off.
"Upgrade" is not just a name if it has the ability to run regulated or unregulated. It's practically a different product. To say that is like saying the "Twist" is just a name. When they put two of them, at 1100mah, in a kit without the "system", and retail it for $45, I'll be recommending it over a kgo. I'll still recommend the e-Power though, because for anyone who doesn't have to have multiple cartomizers pre-mounted on their e-cigs, generic batteries are vastly superior in both performance and economy.
You'd be right. I'm not sure where you got the idea that anyone though 510 stuff wouldn't work on an ego, but by insisting that a Joye 3.4V is superior to another 3.4V (which is likely a joye under the case anyway), it does sound like you're pushing Joye as some superior 3.4V device. Insisting that a typical user can expect their batteries to last longer than stated by Joye marketing and tech material makes it sound like you're pushing Joye. By claiming that a throwaway e-cig is somehow more economical in terms of maintenance costs (the OP's original topic) than one that uses generic batteries, it sounds like your pushing Joye.
The Silver Bullet is probably the best vaporizer you can buy if you plan to use it regularly, it's in it for the long haul.
You need to have 5 posts in order to use the PM feature. After 5 posts, you wait until the system refreshes itself and you can PM.
Don't use the Ultrafire batteries. The Trustfires are better for a cheap battery, but I wouldn't use that either.
For the best IMR battery, bar none, the Panasonic CGR18650CH is the one to get. They're 2250mah. Smartvapes has them for about $8 and worth every penny. There is also a 3100mah protected battery from Panasonic. I don't recall the model number, but it's about the same price and is far superior to any of the *fires or the AW. There is a thread in the Lavatube forum about these batteries with other sources to buy them and test results comparing them to the over-hyped AW IMRs.
You can get by with normal LR attys for dripping, at leas for a while. There are atomizers specifically designed for dripping. They'll last longer, be easier to clean and won't leak as much as a regular atty.
For good dripping attys, Ikenvape makes two models that are reasonably priced. The iO6 and the V2 Cannon.
The HH357 is also a great dripping atty, but it's pricey and has a learning curve. Might want to hold off on that one until you know if you really like dripping. Dripping gives you the best flavor, but you pay for it in convenience.
Attys in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 will work fine with a 3.7V battery. Don't forget that with a big battery, a lot of your time will be spent vaping at around 4 volts. It takes my 18650 sized battery a good 3 or 4 hours to go below 4 volts. I vape for 10 hours and recharge it when it hits 3.8 volts.
If you're a real light smoker, just use a low nic juice. You're going to end up vaping more than you smoked. The idea is to maintain a nicotine level throughout the day. Low nic throughout the day will keep the level to where it was when you had short, ocassional bursts.
If you want to go with the dripping method, which is basically dripping 3 drops into an atty, LR atomizers are the best choice although the atomizers on Altsmoke.com are a little expensive. I've tried some of the new tanks but I still think the drip method produces better flavor and vapor. The charger offered on Altsmoke is good but at $16 or so it is a little expensive, if you plan to get other batteries than the ones offered on Altsmoke get the charger that corresponds to those batteries. Hope this helped.
The simple answer is to do the research, decide what most people are happy with, and set out on a PV that will do the job. Find a delivery method that you like, cartos for instance, and all you have to do from that point is settle on some juices that you like.
Most of the money is spent trying new stuff. If you can settle down with a good PV and be satisfied, the credit card will cool down! You've had some good recommendations. Go for a well made one that will last. Stay away from the latest fad PV's.
If you haven't been here, it's worth your time to search it out. Try the "browse by features" link under the menu. The review ratings in the database are pretty solid.
Best e-Cig Mod List | e-Cig Mods Database
Most of the money is spent trying new stuff. If you can settle down with a good PV and be satisfied, the credit card will cool down! You've had some good recommendations. Go for a well made one that will last. Stay away from the latest fad PV's.
If you haven't been here, it's worth your time to search it out. Try the "browse by features" link under the menu. The review ratings in the database are pretty solid.
Best e-Cig Mod List | e-Cig Mods Database
Attys/Cartos are where the issue of maintenance cost will really come into play (beside juice). You will need to decide how to get your juice vaporized in a way that suits the way you want to vape. Many folks seem to prefer cartos because they are pretty cheap and can be easily switched out to provide different flavors. However, they are not built to last very long and you could find yourself going through one every week or so especially if you end up using high VG type juices. Additionally, they don't hold much juice by themselves and you may find yourself constantly refilling, topping them off or using a tank system to keep them properly juiced. Tank/carto setups abound in great variety and if you choose this route, you will likely want to do another round of research to see what type of setup you'll prefer. Boge and SmokTek cartos seem to get the most love around here (Low Res for a 3.7 battery is recommended) though you may also want to look into alternatives like clearos that you can find at places like gotvapes.
A lot of veterans seem to prefer the quality and flavor of direct dripping onto an atomizer as there is no carto filler to interfere with the flavor and there are attys which are built with higher quality such as the cisco and Ikenvape attys which while more expensive, will usually last much longer. Dripping can be a bit inconvenient though especially if you want to vape while driving (don't drip while driving!). If you want to go the atty route, you may want to consider a feeder mod such as the Reo, Vapage V-Mod (what I use) or the notcigs VVPV as they provide a simple method of getting juice from a juice reservoir to the atty without dripping.
There are also high end rebuildable attys like the House of Hybrids Zenesis/Z-atty and GG Odysseus which while there is more cost up front, would ultimately be cheapest to maintain because all you need is some inexpensive wire and wicking material to keep you vaping like a boss. The top rebuildables usually wick juice from a tank as well so you won't need to drip to use them. Rebuilding these attys requires no soldering and is actually pretty simple but may take some practice.
I love my reasonably priced, pocket friendly V-Mod XL bottom feeder (18650 battery with mechanical switch) with LR attys because it is simple to use, cheap to maintain and gets a great tasting vape, but I'll likely get myself a VV with a rebuildable atty/tank one of these days.
This thread is awesome! I'll be buying a tube mod soon, this certainly helped explain some stuff.
Now to decide the forever on going debate.. especially for myself volcano or provari....
Now to decide the forever on going debate.. especially for myself volcano or provari....
After trying a billion things, these are my personal favorites and what I'd recommend to start at while you get your bearings.
Conventional cartomizers:
Boge 2ohm
Clearomizers:
Fluxomizers from Gotvapes.com 2.4-2.6ohm range.
The only ones I've found that are good "out of the box"
(Fluxos vape a little warmer than the Boges)
Attys for dripping:
Ikenvape i06 2-2.5ohm
Ikenvape Canon V2 same resistance range.
For a charger, you can't hardly beat the Trustfire TR-001 for economy and versatility for the price, around $10-15.
You can find it virtually anywhere. Mine has been working flawlessly for 8 years straight.
EcigCharlotte.com has them for about $11 with $1.99 shipping.
They also carry the Ikenvape attys so you can eliminate an additional vendor
The Xtar W6(?) is technically better and a more expensive. For the price difference, you can buy another battery or two.
The Pilas are more expensive and only marginally better than the Xtars. You're at the point of diminishing returns.
Conventional cartomizers:
Boge 2ohm
Clearomizers:
Fluxomizers from Gotvapes.com 2.4-2.6ohm range.
The only ones I've found that are good "out of the box"
(Fluxos vape a little warmer than the Boges)
Attys for dripping:
Ikenvape i06 2-2.5ohm
Ikenvape Canon V2 same resistance range.
For a charger, you can't hardly beat the Trustfire TR-001 for economy and versatility for the price, around $10-15.
You can find it virtually anywhere. Mine has been working flawlessly for 8 years straight.
EcigCharlotte.com has them for about $11 with $1.99 shipping.
They also carry the Ikenvape attys so you can eliminate an additional vendor
The Xtar W6(?) is technically better and a more expensive. For the price difference, you can buy another battery or two.
The Pilas are more expensive and only marginally better than the Xtars. You're at the point of diminishing returns.
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Have you ever vaped 3.4 "real" volts on a VV device which is capable of it? If you have, you know that 3.4v is not the same as 3.4v pwm. And yes, i am still fully inclined to believe that there could be a significant difference between a single-sample Firefly, and Joye eGos as a whole. The fact that you had to use 1.5/1.7s on the Fireflys furthers my belief that your single-sample batts may have been underperfomers, as i get quite satisfactory results using Boge and kangers at 2-2.2 ohms.
Also, i never stated that an eGo makes 3.4v perform like 4v. That's just silly.
Not sure why you feel compelled to keep telling me this, when i advise against the tanks systems and kits as well. I think they suck.
Anything i wrote regarding battery life, or anything else for that matter, was stated in the context of the gear AS I USE IT, which i outlined in detail. Who said anything about rotating two batteries? I surely didn't. I would never suggest that as an adequate PV setup, since it sure as hell wouldn't be adequate for me.
Lol, how old are you? Seriously.
Not sure what your point is here, unless you just want to debate semantics? But...hey, good news: new vapers don't HAVE to buy a kit of any sort at all, and you can get 2 batts and a charger for........$45. So, there ya go. Glad i could help!
As for the e-power you're recommending so heartily...unless you can guarantee that it will last for years, or will remain on the market for years (umm...look at the 18650 e-power history before making such a guarantee) and thus have parts available, you can't guarantee that they won't be buying ANOTHER pv within as little as a few months if/when theirs fails. This has something of an effect on your economic claims, no?
With the 16340 e-power in particular, they'll be buying an new PV AND new batts, since 16340s are not widely used in PVs. Something of a short-sighted recommendation, as i see it...and for someone who has serious economic concerns, just bad advice.
Lol, it ain't all about you, skippy. Was replying to the OP's post, in which he related that he wished to stick with 510 stuff, and not eGos due to their proprietary nature. Sounded to me as if he didn't understand that eGos have 510 threading. Thus, i was clarifying. And again, you're putting words in my mouth (seems to be a real habit with you) as i never claimed throwaway e-cigs are more economical in terms of maintainence costs. And the only thing i insisted upon is my own experience, which is in contrast to your conjecture.
I am not at all attached to the outcome, as i stated, i don't care if anyone ends up using what i suggest, or use. You, however, seem to want very badly to be seen as "THE guy with THE answers", but given that no new vaper knows how their vaping will progress, nobody has THE answers. Most experienced vapers know this, and understand that what's right for any one vaper will never be what's right for every vaper, or even most vapers. For this reason, the wider the range of experiences a new vaper has to draw from, the better. To illustrate, when i began vaping 2 1/2 years ago my aims were quite similar to the OP's, andnot a single suggestion you've made in this thread would have worked for me long term (no, not even the kGos which i've owned, i PREFER the consistency of pwm). Either i'm vaping completely "wrong"(if you really are "THE guy with THE answers"), lol, or perhaps there's another possibility, and i'm vaping exactly "right" for me, which just happens to be different from what you percieve as THE way. Yeah, I'm thinking that sounds more like the truth. All points stand
So, you're happy vaping at 5.8Watts. Good for you. I think that's pretty lame myself. I got two fully functional retail batteries that happened to have been supplied to Liberty-Flights with the wrong finish. If you think 3.4V from an eGo is somehow superior to 3.4V from a first-run clone, which is likely the very same battery, you are entitled to your delusion. But don't carry on like I'm some sort of mental defective. You were the one saying an ego, with 3.4V performs better than a 4V e-Power, so yes, you did claim that, and yes, it is silly. It's as silly as insisting that my firefly is defective because I think 5.8 Watts is insufficient for a decent vape.
I felt compelled to tell you this because you insist that I have something against the form factor of the ego. I'm trying to make clear to you what my main objection to it is and that it has nothing to do with the form factor. If it was, I'd never have bought the Fireflies. Is that clear enough for you?
You stated you'd need more than 2 e-Powers to satisfy your vaping "profile" which you had previously described as having multiple batteries with you. Seems to me the logical conclusion is that you run multiple batteries. If I wanted to search back through this thread, I'm almost certain you stated it pretty clearly and that's why it would take more than 2 e-Powers to meet your vaping "profile". If you don't have multiple PVs running, then how is it that it would take more than 2 e-Powers to satisfy your profile? If you do have more than 2 PVs running, then of course you're going to get a longer lifespan from an individual eGo. If you don't run eGos at all, then your claimed battery life is meaningless. Can you not see the logic in that? Again, why does your personal experience negate the published literature of Joye? The world and physics doesn't revolve around you and your "profile".
Oh, my. What an intelligent comeback. I'm at least as old as you and likely older.
An e-Power and multiple batteries would be insufficient for your "profile", whereas multiple eGo batteries aren't. Now, if there is any explanation, other than the one I posited, why one PV with multiple batteries would be insufficient, but multiple egos aren't, please explain it.
You know exactly what my point was. When a 3.4V machine has a change that allows it to switch to 3.7V, that's an upgrade. It's not semantics, it's simple, concise English. Don't you even bother to read your statement that I respond to? Do you just read my responses and forget what you said that I was responding to?
No. I don't have to guarantee anything. I'll guarantee this though. The ego will die. When it does, it'll cost more than $5 to replace it. If the switch fails, it'll cost more than $10 to replace it. The history has nothing to do with these facts. Do you buy disposable flashlights under the same rationale? Cordless drills? Anything that uses batteries? You can't negate a position by interjecting some custom contrived scenario of your choosing.
It's not a 16340, it's a 14650. But that argument doesn't make sense anyway unless you can show me a PV that is powered by dead eGo batteries. The issue is long term economy, not what happens on the off-chance the device fails after it's discontinued. The initial prices are comparable. I can guarantee an ego will fail with a year of steady use. You can't guarantee an e-Power will fail within a year of steady use or that it will be discontinued previous to that failure. Again, interjecting some contrived facts is not the way to disprove a point.
My name's not Skippy, Sport. So don't address other people's posts under quotes from me, or I'll feel free to assume you were addressing my post. Get how that works? I never denied your experiene. I don't care about your experience. This thread was not about your experience or your "profile". Seems to me, you're the master of conjecture, with your conjecture about discontinuations of products and conjectures about my defective Firefly and conjectures about failing e-Power switches. Project much? I DID claim that throwaway e-cigs were not more economical, yet you felt compelled to make all these conjectures about failures of the e-Power to somehow prove that an ego was more economical. So, quit shifting the goalposts. The entire point of this thread was long term maintenance costs, not long term maintenance costs for someone with YOUR "profile". If you weren't trying to claim a throwaway was more economical, why did you even bother arguing with me about it?
Now your babbling in desperation. I didn't intend for any of my suggestions to apply to you. I couldn't care less if any of my suggestions would have worked for you. I don't care a whit about your vaping "profile". This thread was never about you, I never denied your experiences and I wouldn't have responded to you had you not started in with nonsense about the superiority of 3.4V PVs. You like 5.8 Watt vaping. I made two simple points that you continue to argue about through one side of your mouth, while insisting you aren't, through the other side of your mouth. They aren't subject to your personal experience. So, tell me again who thinks this is all about them? First FACT. A PV that puts out 3.7 to 4V will perform better on average, than another that puts out 3.4V. Second FACT. A throwaway PV is NOT more economical in the long run than one that isn't. You don't get to make up fantasy scenarios to negate these facts. Your personal experience notwithstanding, your conjecture that product discontinuation will prevent the long term from happening notwithstanding, those are facts. Despite your prognostications and conjectures about model changes or switch failures, those are FACTS. You can deny them in one sentence and deny you're denying them in the next sentence if you want. But those were the only two things I was saying and your personal feelings, experience or vaping "profile" is irrelevant and doesn't change those FACTS one iota.
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Haha, wow. You're a hoot, that's for sure. Don't flatter yourself, though...nothing i posted was for your benefit.
I'll keep this brief, as I sense this circular nonsense could go on forever.
I never claimed that 3.4 vapes better than 3.7 or 4v, nor did I state that disposables are more economical. That's just idiotic, and your claim that i made either of those assertions is a fabrication. Fantasy. Ya made it up.
I stated, for the benefit of the OP, that i use 3.4 pwm eGo batteries to satisfactory effect, and find them useful.
Point: true
You stated in response:
"There is really no good reason to get an eGo anymore".
Point: untrue
Pretty much everything after that could be skipped and at the end we'd arrive at:
I use 3.4v pwm eGo batteries to satisfactory effect, and find them useful.
Point: still true
"There is really no reason to get an eGo anymore".
Point: still untrue.
Are they the lowest-cost option? Nope. But they are very affordable. Affordable enough that they are a viable option for just about any vaper. They provide enough utility to some vapers that they are willing to choose them over the bottom-line lowest-cost option. This is the point I was making, for the benefit of the OP and others who might be reading. Point stands.
The entire 3.4 issue is, as I stated on the first page, a non-issue with the batts in question. It's irrelevant. Not even sure why you went back to it, after that was established. Bit of a head-scratcher.
I really think this subject has run it's course, and then some.
I'll keep this brief, as I sense this circular nonsense could go on forever.
I never claimed that 3.4 vapes better than 3.7 or 4v, nor did I state that disposables are more economical. That's just idiotic, and your claim that i made either of those assertions is a fabrication. Fantasy. Ya made it up.
I stated, for the benefit of the OP, that i use 3.4 pwm eGo batteries to satisfactory effect, and find them useful.
Point: true
You stated in response:
"There is really no good reason to get an eGo anymore".
Point: untrue
Pretty much everything after that could be skipped and at the end we'd arrive at:
I use 3.4v pwm eGo batteries to satisfactory effect, and find them useful.
Point: still true
"There is really no reason to get an eGo anymore".
Point: still untrue.
Are they the lowest-cost option? Nope. But they are very affordable. Affordable enough that they are a viable option for just about any vaper. They provide enough utility to some vapers that they are willing to choose them over the bottom-line lowest-cost option. This is the point I was making, for the benefit of the OP and others who might be reading. Point stands.
The entire 3.4 issue is, as I stated on the first page, a non-issue with the batts in question. It's irrelevant. Not even sure why you went back to it, after that was established. Bit of a head-scratcher.
I really think this subject has run it's course, and then some.
AW IMRs are worth every penny and then some! I've used both and only had one Ultafire last longer than a year, ALL my AWs are going strong, some for as long as 3 years.
I prefer dripping and am lookong for a mod that has a good battery life so im not having to carry all my gear everywhere.....the bottom feeder vapage product looks promising thanks for that quick note above ill have to read more about it...
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