When I saw your vamo for $100, first thing I thought was...
fasttech.
I seem to do most my hardware purchases from them. Here's a few things to keep in mind.
1) they are reputable. They are one of the few sites I know of that doesn't censor their posts about products. The only thing they disallow, is mentioning competitors and spam, which is understandable. I have seen reviews bashing a product and how horrible it is. for them to do that on any of their products is a big plus to me.
2) Shipping will be slow. This is not entirely their fault.
a)They obey most shipping laws and regulations, so keep that in mind. For example, anything with a battery has been deemed hazardous materials,
and most carriers refuse to ship them entirely, or require too steep of a charge to be feasible. Because of that, you have to ship Malaysia post.
b)They do not stock all products they list, so you wil have to wait for
fasttech to get the item first.
c) The item will have to go through at LEAST 2 customs offices (China and destination country)
d) Even though they say ships worldwide, it's not to every country. Check to see if they ship to your country before placing an order.
e) Shipping is FREE for most items. Malaysia post adds a slight charge (like .50us). but those are the standard carrier rates, not express shipping.
3) Assume anything you're buying from them a clone, unless it specifically says authentic.
4) Read the customer reviews. They will give you a good overall account of the quality of the item. IF there's no reviews on the item, there's probably a good reason why, check the discussion area ont he product.
5)
fasttech is not a manufacturer, but a distributor. keep that in mind. They sell a wide variety of stuff, and some are better than others.
6) They offer great deals, and are almost unbeatable in most cases when it comes to clones/chinese made products.
7) They do offer return policies, but keep in mind, they don't make much of a profit off of the items themselves, so RMAs will be handled as cheap of a solution as possible. I've only had one RMA, and it was for a mini protank. a viable solution for them was to wait for my next order from them and they'd add a replacement with that order. That was my suggestion to them that they found doable.
As I said, they are reputable with slow shipping times. Here's some of my shipping times:
order placed Item Recieved.
2/17/2014 3/21/2014 (Malaysia Post/UPS)
1/09/2014 2/01/2014 (Singapore Post/UPS)
12/21/2013 1/08/2014 (Singapore Post/UPS)
9/17/2013 10/10/2013 (Singapore Post/UPS)
Etc..... so, an average of 1 month is a good estimate, With Malaysia post taking a bit longer (they have poor tracking in my opinion)
I would recommend buying things locally to get things started. But definately keep Fasttech in mind when you're wanting to try something new, or wish to add a few toppers to your collection. I am lucky to have a local brick and mortar shop close by, so if I need something in an emergency, I go there first. But if I'm stocking up on replacement coils, or a few extra clearomizers, I go ahead and do the 1 month wait from Fasttech.
