Now that I've been using this a while, and, more importantly, am completely off cigarettes, I thought I'd share some of my findings for anyone else in a similar situation. That is, anyone else buying into the eRoll to quit smoking real cigarettes.
If you're already happy with your
vaping system, this is a long post and mostly targeted at current smokers or people that are unsatisfied with big mods. Feel free to skip this if that doesn't describe you.
First off, I am fairly certain they designed this thing to use high-nic liquid, based on the tank size, battery size, and the fact that it ships with a PCC in which you can charge it without disassembly. With 4.5+% liquids, I've actually been using it like I'd use a real cigarette, and this is a god-send to me in a number of ways.
The most important thing for me getting back into
vaping was that I didn't want to have this thing stuck to my hand 24/7. With lower nic liquids (24mg), I was
vaping nearly constantly. With the 45mg+ liquids, I can actually put the damned thing down and function normally for an hour or two. In fact, the in-laws are in town now, and they didn't even know this was an e-cigarette until I told them, because I make it a point to still go outside to smoke, and I'm only gone for 5 minutes at a time. I did get one funny look from the father-in-law when he saw it was burning blue, but he didn't say anything at the time. After I told him what it was he was still surprised that it wasn't a cigarette, based entirely on my behavior -- he'd seen e-cigarettes before (from myself included), but he had noted that they (and I) simply couldn't ever put them down.
The next obviously huge thing is that it charges without taking it apart. Putting it back into the PCC is like putting a cigarette out. Plus, the PCC makes for a great "ash tray" (place to put it) when I'm sitting down at a table.
The PCC easily lasts me an entire day, even with 24mg liquids when I was filling it 4-5 times/day. With 45mg liquids, filling it only once or twice per day, there is zero question. I'm confident I'd make it two days now without a charge. Couple this with the ucan (which is, to be blunt, also a god-send -- really, just get one.. it's convenient and clean) I can safely leave the house with stuff I can put into my pocket as easily as I can put a pack of smokes and a lighter. For extended travels, I
might bring another atty, but this leads me to the next point...
...with the higher nic liquids, I'm not ever getting the atty really hot. In fact, I can hold the eRoll between my fingers via the cone comfortably (common complaint with the eRoll), just like a cigarette. Six short* puffs and I'm good before it gets to the point where it's too hot too touch. This has increased the longevity of the atomizers a lot for me.
Then there is cost: the eRoll is
cheap, even when you don't make any attempt to recycle/clean the parts, provided you use it in the manor I've described above. I can toss an atty and tank each week and it's only $25-30/month. I do this weekly because personally like the taste and flow of a fresh set. And since I now only go through 1-2 tankfulls (at .4ml each) per day, it's only about 60 cents per day for cheap stuff, or up to one dollar for the more expensive stuff.
In total, that's about $45-60 per month. As a 1.5 PAD smoker, that's a
significant savings, and much more importantly,
smoking is still pleasurable to me, because it's roughly the same hassle as it is with cigarettes (running to the store for cigarettes and lighters). This doesn't include the cost of the batteries, but at $9/ea, it's not much more, even if they only last a month. Though I suspect they'll last much longer since they're being topped off so frequently due to the design of the whole system.
I will say one last thing for smokers looking to quit: throat hit is big. The 45mg liquids got me most of the way, but a few drops of vodka and cinnamon helped me to the point that I haven't wanted a real cigarette at all. I am not joking here: no pain whatsoever. This has been the first time I've actually been able to get away from cigarettes in 18 years. And I've been trying to vape instead -- and failing -- for 4 years. I've maybe not gone through as much gear as some of you here, but it was enough (808, 510, eGo, many different tanks/carts, etc).
Now I just have to convince my family members to go this way
* I have had some variability in the tanks themselves. I've gotten two batches (of 5) that have pretty tight draws (the smoky ones, if it matters). But I just got a pack of smoky ones and two packs of clear ones that draw like a dream. They might have addressed an issue here. But, these draw pretty close to a real cigarette now.