Ahhhh Pizza my good man, I am afraid in order to help you so you can better understand I am going to send you off into the abyss
A long long time ago in a distant forest ... Nah! wrong story
A battery depletes under normal use, you will not get a constant vape off a battery as it starts to deplete. The freshly charged battery will give you X volts (load is dependent on atty). That X volts will remain constant for a little while but the voltage will drop as the battery depletes, until the cut off is reached in the case of protected batteries or vapour production as hit the wall on IMRs (whispy). As you gather experience using the various types of batteries this will become second nature as to when you need a fresh battery. That is no problem because it is better for the battery to recharge before it reaches its low voltage cutoff (protected) or threshold IMR.
Using a regulator or a regulated device e.g the provari, your voltage is constant as explained earlier, until insufficient voltage is available to reach the desired set point (set voltage).
Now I have eGos, I have a 3.7V eGo running and 18650 2600mAh battery and I have a VV eGo employing PWM. The best one is of course the VV eGo, second standard eGos and third the 18650. Although the 18650 its SLIGHTLY better than a std eGo, that fresh of the battery delivery pales in comparison with the consistent delivery of the eGo. This is where folks suffer from the placebo subjectivity that volts = performance, not quite true.
PWM pulses on and off 3.7 - 3.0 In doing so it not only adds longer battery life, it also assists in helping the atomiser by not overheating it, when not required. These pulses are rapid enough that the vaper does not sense this. It also stems back to the days were the ecigs were invented and developed for max EFFICIENCY. It is we as vapers (not knowing any better) demanded more power to include but not limited vaping at XHV 2 x 3.7V batteries stacked. Most vapers these days come to find (after initial withdrawals) that the sweet spot lies between 4.2 -4.5V or a wattage around 7-8 watts. The latter is a hot topic of discussion amongst Darwin users.
To answer your question <<Am I understanding that the regulated is more consistant than a PWM? As in your examples, the regulated is always the same Vs, whereas the PWM is a range/average? >>
The answer is no, with a caveat. "Regulated PWM" is the bees knees and hence what the Darwin and Provari use or my VV eGo. If I want 4.2V which it is set at, I get between 3.68-3.71V under load and it is the underload that is the important factor, not volts available. In the case of my VV eGo I vape at the "fresh" battery state until the batteries die. OTOH if I want to vape at 4.2V under load I set it up for 4.5V give or take. I don't always use my test harness to figure it out. My VV eGo cost me around $25 to build and performs just as well as the Provari & Darwin, albeit I will openly admit the Darwin would have an edge. I haven't acquired these devices nor do I intend to acquire an Eclipse as I don't have the need for the "fancy" features listed, my device performs just as well. One feature I would like which the Darwin has incorporated is the "set the watts setting" that's a unique feature that can be achieved trough calculations on any VV device but as easy by tweaking the setting on the wattage on the Darwin.
Allot of hype and myths circulate this forum. BTW the best 5V device out there is the GLV why because it uses a resistor vice a regulator which provides 4.93V under load, well at least mine does regardless of atty resistance.
Yup! sisfting through all the mumbo jumbo out there is frustrating. I hope I haven't lost you. Feel free to ask for any clarification
