Remember the Ovale V8 mod (and its various clones)? That variable-voltage box mod---curvy though it is, it's still a box, not a tube---came out just before the PWM discussions around the Young-June Lavatubes and other VVs of that time came to a head. Some posters on ECF ooh'd and aah'd about what a hard hitter the Ovale was. Later it turned out that the Ovale didn't really hit hard at all, it was just that the voltage delivered was considerably higher than the voltage displayed. Same with all those PWM devices whose displays were calibrated to Vavg rather than Vrms.
I still have three of those. Mine are all dirt-cheap clones purchased near the end of the mod's run. One sits (rocks, actually, since the bottom isn't flat) on my desk, with the other two upstairs on my bedside table, topped with clearos. I don't mind that their displays are inaccurate, as I'm not a low-wattage vaper---I vape mostly in the 9-15 watt range, depending on the resistance of the coils being heated. I just mentally account for the inaccuracy and adjust the voltage down accordingly. 4.3 volts on a ProVari is roughly equivalent to 3.8 volts on an Ovale.
I feel that we're revisiting that whole PWM thing with the istick, and I imagine that I'll like mine when it arrives from VapeNW today or tomorrow, inaccuracies and all. As we learned, even the vaunted ProVari uses PWM, but it's all about post-pulse smoothing algorithms, which the ProVari does brilliantly, while the iStick smooths very little, if any. But what the heck, the iStick is 35 bucks, not 160. I didn't buy one for its technological sophistication, just the cheap price and small size, and the fact that I don't need a 100-150 watt monster. As other posters have stated, if for some reason I don't like the iStick, it won't be the first time I've blown $35 on vaping gear. Or the 50th. LOL.
I still have three of those. Mine are all dirt-cheap clones purchased near the end of the mod's run. One sits (rocks, actually, since the bottom isn't flat) on my desk, with the other two upstairs on my bedside table, topped with clearos. I don't mind that their displays are inaccurate, as I'm not a low-wattage vaper---I vape mostly in the 9-15 watt range, depending on the resistance of the coils being heated. I just mentally account for the inaccuracy and adjust the voltage down accordingly. 4.3 volts on a ProVari is roughly equivalent to 3.8 volts on an Ovale.
I feel that we're revisiting that whole PWM thing with the istick, and I imagine that I'll like mine when it arrives from VapeNW today or tomorrow, inaccuracies and all. As we learned, even the vaunted ProVari uses PWM, but it's all about post-pulse smoothing algorithms, which the ProVari does brilliantly, while the iStick smooths very little, if any. But what the heck, the iStick is 35 bucks, not 160. I didn't buy one for its technological sophistication, just the cheap price and small size, and the fact that I don't need a 100-150 watt monster. As other posters have stated, if for some reason I don't like the iStick, it won't be the first time I've blown $35 on vaping gear. Or the 50th. LOL.
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I'm excited as one of these kits is for a friend struggling with the EGO battery life....I think she is going to love this.
On a serious note a lot of that type of stuff goes over my head...that's why I appreciate those like PBusardo that do in depth testing/reviews and put the information into terms I can understand. There is no vaping product on the market that is for everyone. Genesis atomizers...I tried and tried and tried to become efficient at building them...but although I got by for awhile just never got the real hang of it. I have many friends that still swear to this day it's the best vape out there.
