HOW has the Provari not been cloned?
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There is no reason to clone a ProVari.
The people who purchase ProVari's purchase them for the exact features that would not be cloned.
1. Build Quality
2. Performance.
I have a chinese clone Kayfun by ECigar which is excellent, but it's easy to take measurements and simply machine the parts. The Kayfun is a great atty, but almost anyone will tell you it's intentionally overpriced and supplies are kept low specifically to give a certain cache to the purchaser of an original Kayfun. Hell, even the Russian is a high priced Clone that is built in China, but it too is kept priced intentionally high so that now people consider a Russian as a separate product instead of the clone that it is.
A ProVari is not artificially rare. A ProVari is readily available with little or no wait time.
Also, it makes no sense to an exact clone of the Provari if you are not going to clone the chipset.
Instead, China attempts to compensate in build quality and accuracy in three ways.
1. Feature set. Almost all current Chinese Mod's include VW in addition to VV. Many of them have a more "advanced" displays and some of them use built in batteries that charge directly from USB or allow you to charge another device. The chinese compensate for their build quality with more features.
2. Flexibility. A Chinese tube mods are either telescoping or include all the tubes necessary to allow for battery size. A Sigelei V3 or V5 can adjust from an 18350 up to stacked 18350's without the need to purchase additional product.
3. Although not as accurate as a ProVari, many are "accurate enough". I think of it as the difference between buying a steak at Longhorn or Outback to buying a steak at Ruths Chris. Some think a Ruths Chris steak is sublime and everything below it is crap. Some say a Ruths Chris steak is overpriced, and for the price of a single piece of meat, they can get a whole dinner at Outback. No one says that Outback is "better" but many say it's "good enough". Same thing is said of the Sigelei or MVP. Maybe it's not as accurate as a ProVari, but people are satisfied enough with the performance.
I personally find the whole rattlesnake thing overrated. I have an MVP 2 and a Sigelei with the 33hz chipset, and I can't for the life of me tell the difference betwwen the two, even though the MVP 2 has a flat signal like the ProVari and the Sigelei has visible PWM on the output.
I also think some ProVari owners suffer from Placebo effect.
A ProVari costs 4 times as much as a Sigelei or MVP2 so it has to "taste better". Taste is affected by so many things. I guarantee that my Kayfun clone on a Sigelei at 33hz tastes a LOT better than a ProVari on a Protank 2 or Evod.
The bottom line is that the most desired things about a ProVari, build quality and accuracy are two of the things that would be lost by cloning them.
China is now competing with ProVari building high quality mods like the VTR or iTaste 134 that have excellent build quality, but have their own identity and feature set.
The people who purchase ProVari's purchase them for the exact features that would not be cloned.
1. Build Quality
2. Performance.
I have a chinese clone Kayfun by ECigar which is excellent, but it's easy to take measurements and simply machine the parts. The Kayfun is a great atty, but almost anyone will tell you it's intentionally overpriced and supplies are kept low specifically to give a certain cache to the purchaser of an original Kayfun. Hell, even the Russian is a high priced Clone that is built in China, but it too is kept priced intentionally high so that now people consider a Russian as a separate product instead of the clone that it is.
A ProVari is not artificially rare. A ProVari is readily available with little or no wait time.
Also, it makes no sense to an exact clone of the Provari if you are not going to clone the chipset.
Instead, China attempts to compensate in build quality and accuracy in three ways.
1. Feature set. Almost all current Chinese Mod's include VW in addition to VV. Many of them have a more "advanced" displays and some of them use built in batteries that charge directly from USB or allow you to charge another device. The chinese compensate for their build quality with more features.
2. Flexibility. A Chinese tube mods are either telescoping or include all the tubes necessary to allow for battery size. A Sigelei V3 or V5 can adjust from an 18350 up to stacked 18350's without the need to purchase additional product.
3. Although not as accurate as a ProVari, many are "accurate enough". I think of it as the difference between buying a steak at Longhorn or Outback to buying a steak at Ruths Chris. Some think a Ruths Chris steak is sublime and everything below it is crap. Some say a Ruths Chris steak is overpriced, and for the price of a single piece of meat, they can get a whole dinner at Outback. No one says that Outback is "better" but many say it's "good enough". Same thing is said of the Sigelei or MVP. Maybe it's not as accurate as a ProVari, but people are satisfied enough with the performance.
I personally find the whole rattlesnake thing overrated. I have an MVP 2 and a Sigelei with the 33hz chipset, and I can't for the life of me tell the difference betwwen the two, even though the MVP 2 has a flat signal like the ProVari and the Sigelei has visible PWM on the output.
I also think some ProVari owners suffer from Placebo effect.
A ProVari costs 4 times as much as a Sigelei or MVP2 so it has to "taste better". Taste is affected by so many things. I guarantee that my Kayfun clone on a Sigelei at 33hz tastes a LOT better than a ProVari on a Protank 2 or Evod.
The bottom line is that the most desired things about a ProVari, build quality and accuracy are two of the things that would be lost by cloning them.
China is now competing with ProVari building high quality mods like the VTR or iTaste 134 that have excellent build quality, but have their own identity and feature set.
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Me too. I don't pay attention to either. My point is that if I'm going to criticize a mod, it won't be because it doesn't have variable wattage. Who cares? It's the same thing.
Those were the only 2 pro Provari posts for me tonight. You're welcome.
I don't understand why there isn't a single METAL china made bottom feeder. lol. Americans know that of the top vapes everrrr, there is the REO and the PROVARI. Yes, they cloned the Provari with the Zmax and whatever else. They saw VV/VW was good. How in the hell does china not realize how fantastic a vape the REO/BF mods give? They are really missing one of the best setups around for vaping. It's their loss until they figure it out for themselves. Mind boggling though.
I think most people see bottom feeders as a niche thing. Hell, most new vapers are scared to drip. God forbid the juice comes from the bottom and not the top.
Personally, I'm far more infatuated with toppers than battery tubes. There's an abundance of interesting drippers coming out. If only I had more money.
10 pages and no one came up the answer? Really?? Simple.
Provape applied for and was granted numerous international trademarks and patents for their names and devices. Not just US trademarks and patents, but international. It's funny how a real company making real products takes real steps to protecting their ideas, devices, and names. In fact, Provape achieved International and US patent and trademark status in 2007 for their Provari properties. Look it up if you don't believe it.
That's why other products that are called clones and counterfeits are not. If there is no application and subsequesnt granting of legal protection there is no legal protection and anyone making a similar or exact copy of an un-patented or un-trademarked product is actually making their own legal original product. Say a Neme clone... is not really a clone from China but an original product from China under the law. Some might not like it, but there it is. Protect your ideas, processes and names or you have no rights to them. Fair game under current US and international law. 99% of all vaping gear has been made with no effort towards legal entitlements.
Provape did it right, just like the way they make their devices.
Provape applied for and was granted numerous international trademarks and patents for their names and devices. Not just US trademarks and patents, but international. It's funny how a real company making real products takes real steps to protecting their ideas, devices, and names. In fact, Provape achieved International and US patent and trademark status in 2007 for their Provari properties. Look it up if you don't believe it.
That's why other products that are called clones and counterfeits are not. If there is no application and subsequesnt granting of legal protection there is no legal protection and anyone making a similar or exact copy of an un-patented or un-trademarked product is actually making their own legal original product. Say a Neme clone... is not really a clone from China but an original product from China under the law. Some might not like it, but there it is. Protect your ideas, processes and names or you have no rights to them. Fair game under current US and international law. 99% of all vaping gear has been made with no effort towards legal entitlements.
Provape did it right, just like the way they make their devices.
Interesting points raised. I do have one question though. You said that Provape applied for and was granted international trademarks and patents for their names and devices in 2007. The Provari wasn't created until 2010, the Provape-1 shortly prior to that. Do you have any info on when Provape actually started or began manufacturing products, and what they were? Links would be appreciated if available.
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China already has a bottom feeder with a large market share. We were discussing it earlier. It's the VMod. And bottom feeding requires a few things, in my opinion.
You have to be able to enjoy one liquid for a large portion of the day. It's much easier to change out a tank or 2 than it is to change out the bottles on a bottom feeder. I don't know about other bottom feeders, but with the VMod you're not going to use RBA's without heavy modifications. There's the RM2, but even that takes work to make it compatible with devices other than the Reo. So you're mostly stuck with using regular dripping atomizers. At best you're hitting 1.5 ohms at 4.2 volts for a few hours before it drops.
As I said I only know about the Reo and the VMod, but unless you're hitting a RM2 on a Reo then you're missing out on most of the things people enjoy on mechanicals: sub-ohms, big clouds and easy flavor changes. The bottom feeder just hits too many weird niches and misses too many of the things people look for in mechanicals.
At least, that's my opinion based on what I've read.
Maybe lost in translation? Bottom feeders are probably thought to be catfish or crabs to the Chinese.
I dunno. I don't think its hard to switch out a Reo's bottle. Just uncrew it and switch it. Reo owners keep extra bottles filled with different flavors nearby.. U just unscrew the cap of the new bottle, take the old bottle out, screw the cap onto the old bottle, screw the new bottle into the feed tube cap. done. & if you want to switch flavors for a short time, you can just drip into the atomizer you have on top.
& it'd be simple to just clone the Reo with a wide enough catch well to accept any bottom fed RDA. A7, whatever. seems like china just doesn't give a s**** about bottom feeder users. A7s are all I use on my Reo and I love them. They already have a popular atomizer... Why not manufacture a popular bottom fed ALUMINUM mod? They'd make a killing.
BLASPHEMY! sure. I'm a heretic. But I already have one Reo... I wouldn't mind if china came out with a clone on-par with the build quality of the Reo. Can't say I'd mind it. If it doesn't happen, good. Rob's mods are the only expensive mechanical mods I could ever get behind supporting. Since paying 120 for the one I've got, I'd probably pay $150 for a 2nd.. It's worth it. But I'd pay $50 for a clone too.
& it'd be simple to just clone the Reo with a wide enough catch well to accept any bottom fed RDA. A7, whatever. seems like china just doesn't give a s**** about bottom feeder users. A7s are all I use on my Reo and I love them. They already have a popular atomizer... Why not manufacture a popular bottom fed ALUMINUM mod? They'd make a killing.
BLASPHEMY! sure. I'm a heretic. But I already have one Reo... I wouldn't mind if china came out with a clone on-par with the build quality of the Reo. Can't say I'd mind it. If it doesn't happen, good. Rob's mods are the only expensive mechanical mods I could ever get behind supporting. Since paying 120 for the one I've got, I'd probably pay $150 for a 2nd.. It's worth it. But I'd pay $50 for a clone too.
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There is no reason a Provari clone would be anymore costly to produce than a vamo or any other cheap VV/VW device. I never would expect them to actually clone the chip, there are several commonly used VV/VW chips they already use which could be dropped into a Provari Clone body. The Zmax board would be the easiest since it's a single button horizontal interface.
Basically my point is, all these VV/VW mods coming out of china for awhile were nothing but the same guts with a different wrapper. Why didn't they ever just put the same guts in a body that's a 1:1 replica of the real one?
The only thing I can think of is that too many people find the Provari hideous, which begs the question why Provape isn't coming out with a new design people find more appealing.
This.
What would be the point of trying to clone a Provari?
Same reason as any other clone, to give people something that looks and feels pretty much the same for a fraction of the cost. While the chip is the only selling point to me personally, others are less concerned with a smooth output and given the chance between two products that perform the same (provari clone vs other china vv/vw devices) but one looks like a well known popular device, with ready-made aftermarket support for rings, extensions, etc, it seems they would choose that one over a random design chinese manufacturers decided on this week.
A provari clone seems silly to me, but that's not the point really, it seems like it would sell big based on the current trends.
Those two points seem like good ones.
The Provari is easy to get, and while it's somewhat spendy it's much more reasonably priced than many of the other clone victims. A $100 clone doesn't seem like such a great deal, when for not much more money you could get a warranty, better quality, materials, much better chip, repair services, etc. That might be my answer right there, thanks for posting!
Although there are some clones of Zen's stuff, both attys and mech. They don't seem too common but they are out there.
For some. I HATE math and this simple formula is all I need to remember with my VV Provari.
Resistance of the carto + 2
So, 3ohms plus 2 equals 5 volts...adjust up or down in .1 volt increments to find your sweet spot.
Nothing could be simpler.
I think the Provari is a US Only interest, I've only ever seen one and i work on the ground for an e-cig retailer, The guy said he spent a fortune importing it from the US and even after all the money he's spent, he hates it 
It did look pig ugly too
It did look pig ugly too
I've known a few that refer to "merkins". They are not my friends.
Thats not true I'm afraid. Provari look alikes have been introduced to the market, namely the Z-max and they werent able to include the linear filter (that keeps the voltage at a constant rate) or a button rated at over 5 million clicks. I dont think either of those were left out as design decision as much as they were because of production costs.
Im not even sure that the components I mentioned are even available in China.
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