I'm a newbie, I need a E Cig that can TRULY provide the pleasure of real cigarettes!

[Bullette the Cowdog]

Then what am I exactly getting for $159? just a variable voltage microprocessor/battery compartment?

thanks

But quietvibes, a ProVari is SHINY!!!
Haha. I don't have a ProVari.
I appreciate your truth. You may be new, but obviously you weren't born yesterday.

 

[kiwivap]

From what I've been told they are heavy too. I haven't used one.

But quietvibes, a ProVari is SHINY!!!
Haha. I don't have a ProVari.
I appreciate your truth. You may be new, but obviously you weren't born yesterday.

 

[Pappy]

First, do not get the blu system. It is overpriced and nit very good. I had to return mine because 70% of the cartos didn't even work.

Check out Smokeless image. They are much cheaper and have a better product. The 78mm battery last 3-4 hours. The cartos last a long time and can be refilled. They gave awesome customer service and fast shipping. Very reasonably priced and there is a 15% off coupon. Here's a video to help.

Smokeless Image Volt Demonstration and CE3 Cartomizers - YouTube

I do not work for smokeless image. I quit a 1 1/2 PAD habit with the volt system.

To the OP: For a completely different alternative, please refer back to the post I'm quoting. One big advantage of ordering the Volt system is that you can get EVERYTHING you need in one order from one vendor including the juice. And the vendor (Smokeless Image) has a reputation for fantastic customer service.

If your head is spinning with all the talk of Provaris, Twists, tanks, etc., you might need to step back and think about the simplicity of ordering a Volt kit as Mr. Outlaw suggested. I've never used SI's juice, but I hear that it's pretty good.

 

[imsoenthused]

Provaris are both shiny and heavy. I wouldn't say uncomfortably heavy, but solid for sure. They are also super reliable and have a great warranty that the company stands behind. These are not small things in the world of PVs. It's a nice, solid chunk of american made stainless steel with electronics that let you set the voltage, and actually give you the voltage you set, all day long. I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to buy one though. It's a matter of how much you want to spend versus how much quality you want. At the top end you have a few options that cost quite a bit and perform excellently, but you can still get good performance out of something considerably cheaper.

 

[dragonbone]

Changed my mind....

 

[imsoenthused]

If your head is spinning with all the talk of Provaris, Twists, tanks, etc., you might need to step back and think about the simplicity of ordering a Volt kit as Mr. Outlaw suggested.

The volt is the best of a bunch of really, really bad options when it comes to mini size PVs. Make no mistake, if you smoked more than half a pack a day they are not for you. Also, any seller that won't tell you the MAh of their batteries is automatically suspect. They don't want to tell you, because then it will be painfully obvious just how short the battery life is. Volts are 320 MAh units. That means about 3 hours of normal usage. They don't charge that fast, so if you plan on using them for more than 6 hours, you'll need more than two of them. Just a few things to keep in mind about the Volt, and keep in mind that it is one of the very best cigarette style models available. Even stepping up as little as an ego is a huge performance jump over something like this.

 

[kiwivap]

The volt is the best of a bunch of really, really bad options when it comes to mini size PVs. Make no mistake, if you smoked more than half a pack a day they are not for you.

Erm... I smoked 45-50 a day and use Volts. They've been terrific for me. I've no complaints. I recently got the Volt X2 900mah. I use that at home. But the 78mm volts certainly work for me and I still use then for work and going out. I smoked for over 30 years, 45-50 a day. So I have to disagree with you there - I'm not the only heavy smoker that's found them quite good.

 

[imsoenthused]

WHAT??? Nobody with a brain buys an eGo or other ecig etc.? lol...

Please don't misrepresent my posts, I said nobody with a brain buys USED sealed batteries due to not knowing what kind of life you'll get out of them. Maybe it would better to just say buying used batteries is a gamble and leave it at that. I never, ever implied that there aren't other options than a Provari. I will stand by my opinion that there are very, very few PVs that perform as well or as reliably as the Provari. Unfortunately you pay a premium price for premium performance.

 

[imsoenthused]

Erm... I smoked 45-50 a day and use Volts. They've been terrific for me. I've no complaints. I recently got the Volt X2 900mah. I use that at home. But the 78mm volts certainly work for me and I still use then for work and going out. I smoked for over 30 years, 45-50 a day. So I have to disagree with you there - I'm not the only heavy smoker that's found them quite good.

The two I tried definitely performed better than the old kr808 models did, but I killed each battery in about two and a half hours and found the vapor production and throat hit to be on the low end of acceptable. It was acceptable though, my only real complaint is that I have no desire to carry around enough of them plus a PCC to last me all day.

 

[kiwivap]

The two I tried definitely performed better than the old kr808 models did, but I killed each battery in about two and a half hours and found the vapor production and throat hit to be on the low end of acceptable. It was acceptable though, my only real complaint is that I have no desire to carry around enough of them plus a PCC to last me all day.

I get about the same time from them. I can't vape that much during the work day so two is enough there. I have a little case with four in it. I mean, I carried tobacco, filters and papers around all the time when I smoked. The throat hit is fine for me - maybe not like a provari but way better than some other minis I had tried.

Well, we aren't smoking - so something is working for us!

 

[rik701]

I consider myself quite new to this as i have only been vaping for 3 weeks now
The setup that i went with was the ego 900mAh with the smok dual coil cartomisers and so far it is working grea was a PAD smoker for almost 30yrs and as soon as i got my ego i haven't had a cig or wanted one (well maybe wanted a time or two)
I got mine through Nashville Vapor | E-Cigarettes and Accessories for $50

 

[rik701]

i have since added a couple of vivi novas a mini and a full sized and several of the rebuildable clearomizers i will keep using the cartos as some juice tastes better out of them and some out of the tank systems

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Different delivery systems:
atomizer/ atty- an element on to which 3-4 drops of juice is dripped

cartridge/ cart- a container with sponge (filled with juice) that is used with the atty- juice drips on to atty from cart and is vaporized

cartomizer/ carto- metal tube with stuffing and element.

carto+tank- a carto with a hole punched in it. Carto is than placed in a glass, metal or plastic tank which is filled with juice- juice saturates carto by way of hole in carto. Carto in a tank last me:
80-90 ml light juice
50-60 ml dark juice

Clearomizer- a plastic or metal tank with a wick and element. Contains NO stuffing. The newer rebuildables (Stardust and Vivi Nova) last me about 3-4 weeks before I have to replace the head- very simple to unscrew old head and screw in new head- takes about 10 secs.

Is "atomizer" "cartomizer", and "tank" pretty much the equivalent part? I believe cartomizer is just a cartridge that's integrated with a atomizer right? But what about the tank? Is that just another word for cartridge...only that you fill it with liquid juice?

I guess I'm a little confused to what exactly a Provari is, specifically I went to their site and looked at the V2, and I still don't understand what that is. For $159, it seems I just get the "basic unit" without batteries or chargers or atomizers or cartomizers...they are all options, as shown here:

ProVari Variable Voltage Electronic Cigarette

Then what am I exactly getting for $159? just a variable voltage microprocessor/battery compartment?

thanks

 

[natchez]

Quite funny OP- on any forum there may be folks associated with different vendors and the like, but with the huge number of participants here it is unlikely you could be hoodwinked.

IMO- not really at all the same as a cigarette. But, the ego twist battery, a low resistance atomizer, and a decent juice gives me enough of a buzz, or hit, to make it through the morning craves. Good luck!

 

[mostapha]

I'm sorry, I will never be convinced that a huge PV with an odd and user unfriendly electronic menu, and the Vivi Nova - a rebuilable tank - is something a newbie needs.

I know you "changed your mind," but I'll go ahead and say that I agree with you about the Provari. I hate that interface and think the guy who designed it should probably be banned from ever designing a product again. But people do like them…and if he knows how it works going in and either can deal with it or likes it, it'd give him what he wants.

And as someone else stated, the vivi nova is not a rebuildable. It is rebuildable in the same way that you can mod anything if you know enough about what you're doing. But you certainly don't have to mod (rebuild) it to get great performance out of it. These things are incredible (for me; YMMV; etc.).

[The OP] may be new, but obviously [wasn't] born yesterday.

That's why I said what I did.

Ohm's law isn't exactly complicated. You just need to understand really basic algebra and have a barely better than average understanding of electricity. IDK…maybe I'm just a nerd and expect too much from people. But everyone had it on a test in middle or high school at some point.

Quite funny OP- on any forum there may be folks associated with different vendors and the like, but with the huge number of participants here it is unlikely you could be hoodwinked.

That's what I've found on basically every forum I've ever been on. Occasionally vendor/manufacturer shills show up……but they're usually flamed into oblivion and/or banned if they don't declare who they are and what their intentions are and stand up to at least a minimal code of ethics of not badmouthing competitors unjustly and representing themselves and their products honestly……even if there's always a little caveat emptor/lector built in.

IMO- not really at all the same as a cigarette. But, the ego twist battery, a low resistance atomizer, and a decent juice gives me enough of a buzz, or hit, to make it through the morning craves. Good luck!

QFT. The biggest problem I have is that a lot of juices err on the side of being way too sweet for me.

 

[NancyR]

And as someone else stated, the vivi nova is not a rebuildable. It is rebuildable in the same way that you can mod anything if you know enough about what you're doing. But you certainly don't have to mod (rebuild) it to get great performance out of it. These things are incredible (for me; YMMV; etc.).

Being as every rebuildable atty out all the end user has to "rebuild" is the coil and wick, what do you call them then?

 

[mostapha]

Vivi Novas.

I'm a music guy. Ridiculous over-taxonomy of simple things bugs the out of me to the point that I want to .

 

[NancyR]

They are rebuildables, just you can buy ready to use heads, just like you can buy ready to use wicks for many of the others.

 

[mostapha]

We'll have to agree to disagree there. I will be putting an avidvaper 2-ohm coil in one at some point just for S&G. Well……more than likely 5 of them since that's how they're sold and I doubt avidvaper will disappoint……especially for $1/coil. But you don't have to jump down that rabbit hole to get what I think is a really good vape.

 

[paulw2014]

Yes. And I don't even like the Provari for myself. But it depends a lot on the person involved. The nova is a decent choice as long as s/he gets enough information.



The Ego-C Twist is just branded Ego-C. It's an Ego. It's a Twist. It has nothing to do with their "Ego-C System". I'm using a Vivi Nova (a full size and a mini) on 2 Ego Twists right now, and I have been for a while. They work flawlessly as long as you're aware of a couple small things.

1 - The vivi nova heads (the part with the atomizer coil that actually heats the liquid) take a little time to break in. There are ways to shortcut it (boiling the heads for a few minutes in water), but those shortcuts are not the kinds of things that a beginner or "n00b" would be expected to know or do flawlessly. I didn't screw up the first time I did it, but that might have been luck. Plus, I'm a nerd and watched youtube videos and read forum posts about it.

If you don't do that, they'll take a day or two to break in. On a twist, you'll be playing with the voltage knob after just about every drag to ride that fine line between "no flavor" and "burned flavor"……and it seems to change (for me) every few drags for the first day or two. Fortunately, they don't seem to need to break in again (at least, not as badly) after being cleaned by running hot water over all the pieces, drying them out, and putting them back together.

If you're using a single-voltage battery (like a regular Ego), I doubt the experience would be very good at all for at least 2 days.

2 - There's a bit of a learning curve to using them because of weird manufacturing tolerances. The center posts on the vivi nova (which carry the + electrical connection) tend to stick out too far. If you just crank one down on a battery, you'll probably break the battery. You can adjust it by disassembling the vivi nova, screwing it on your battery, and then putting the atomizer head on, taking it off the battery, and reassmebling the rest of it. But it doesn't always work completely. It works on one of mine, but not the other. Probably some version issue.

IMO, the best thing you can get for using a Vivi Nova on a Twist is a thread cover like this or this. The first one is for the full size; the second is for the mini. You screw the thread cover all the way on, put the vivi nova on the battery just until it makes solid contact, then unscrew the thread cover until it holds the vivi nova in place.

It's not like rocket science to do it right, but there is a learning curve. If you do it that way, you wont damage the battery from over-tightening the vivi nova, and you don't have to worry about it being un-stable on the battery. But, you can also damage threads doing that, which could make the battery useless. Again, it's not rocket science…but it's not entirely straightforward either.

I love that setup, and if that's where your budget falls and you think that, assembled, it's the type of thing you could see yourself using……I'd seriously consider it. It gives a great experience, IMHO. But I haven't used much that people would consider higher end than that.

View attachment 125717

I feel like I'm whoring that picture out all over the place, but that's my daily setup. 2 ego twists. One has a full size vivi nova with a blue tube, the other has a mini with a clear tube. Both of them have aftermarket drip tips which you don't need and are largely just aesthetic (you need to have one, but not a specific one…and they each come with a black one).

If you want to go higher-end right off the bat…the added financial investment might help convince you to make a more legitimate try of it. Judge that based on yourself. But you owe it to yourself to watch some reviews of anything you consider buying. Grimmgreen (on youtube) has a great review of the twist, and pbusardo (tasteyourjuice.com) has a good review of the provari as well as the twist……though he gets a lot more technical and posts long reviews that might bore you senseless if you're not as much of a geek as someone like me. There are a lot of others as well.

After you figure out hardware that works for you, it's just a matter of trying juices. And there are a lot of juices out there. It might just end up being fun.

Also, there are people who are perfectly happy with the Blu. They just tend not to frequent vaping forums because they're not enthusiasts. It seems like you probably won't be happy with it, but if money's no issue……go ahead and try it. You might like it. People here tend to prefer the Volt from Smokless Image. Frankly, I think all of the "mini" e-cigs, the things that still look like cigarettes, are just sick jokes. I can't see how they're satisfying to anyone……but they still exist, so they must be.

The other big point…



It's also true…to a degree. The experience of vaping is a lot closer to the experience of smoking a hookah or a pipe. The feel when you're inhaling is a lot closer to a hookah than a cigarette, and the draw is closer to a hookah or a pipe than a cigarette. Also, if you've ever smoked either a hookah or a pipe, you know there's some babysitting: keeping a pipe bowl at the right temperature by how often/hard you drag; moving the coal around a hookah and occasionally purging the stale/burned smoke from the chamber above the water; tamping things down properly; setup; cleaning; etc..

I don't think anything will be quite the same as pulling out a pack, shaking one out, lighting it, and tossing it away when you're done. There's just too much going on in vaping for it to feel that simple.

BUT, the experience is tremendously rewarding. I don't stand out as "that guy playing with electronics" when I'm hanging out with my still-smoking friends. But there's more prep work. At times, I feel like a chemist with all the juice bottles and cleaning little metal and plastic pieces. But it's easily worth it.

And there are a few other things. Vaping will dry your throat out, so you have to drink a good bit of water. You have to be able to fiddle with things a bit; dry hits can always happen (especially if you're avoiding propylene glycol) and they will tear up your throat (temporarily) worse than I remember cigarettes doing. I don't think it's ever going to be 100%, but it's easily good enough if you want it to be.

I was a PAD (pack a day) Lucky Strike smoker for a while. My girlfriend tried a gas station disposable that was a hands-down better experience than my first vape kit (in early 2009 from a mall kiosk) and lead me to this site. I got off the disposables pretty quickly and am extremely happy with what I've got. But I never intended to quit smoking; I wanted something that would cut down on the pointless chain-smoking when I was waiting for things. I thought eventually I'd get to the point where I vaped most of the time but had a cigarette when I wanted one. Instead, I still have a couple lucky strikes sitting in a drawer somewhere that I have no intention of ever smoking. And it's only been a few months. I'm so enthralled with this community and all these new toys that my old rituals have been left in the dust.

So, it's not the same. And it won't be. But you might find it's better.

As for the nicotine head rush thing: I definitely get it. But most people seem not to. I always chalked it up to oxygen deprivation rather than any specific drug effect (because I didn't get it from gum either) so maybe it has something to do with the way I breathe while I vape. Start with a higher nicotine juice (24 or 36mg/ml) if you need to.

I say definitely go for it. But you might have to change your expectations just a bit.

I think it's worth it. Easily.

Good luck.

And sorry about the wall of text. I'm also an insomniac.

Okay, after reading everyone's comment and doing some thinking, I think I will start off my vaping experience with the Ego Twist C and the Viva Nova. I can't go wrong with that right? I mean, from the comments, it might not be the best out there (Provari), but it's definitely a good system. As in, I shouldn't get too disappointed with it so to cause me to quickly yearn for a cigarette...

Any other comments about my choice? thanks