I hope this review helps anyone who is deciding about the Lux or Modern Vapor. I decided to get the Sideshow from Modern Vapor based on this forum giving me a good feel for it and I hope to return the flavor er... favor.
Tested Lux load-out: matte black, manual battery, first generation received on 9/16/2010.
About the Lux:
The Lux is a high battery / medium high cart capacity workhorse e-cigarette PV. It can be compared to the Ego in its target audience of high capacity e-cigs, though having not seen a Ego I cannot comment to the differences between them. The Lux derives from Modern Vapor's 902 series in that it shares the same atomizers and cartridges. It also shares the compatibility of the 501 series e-cigarettes though I did not test this out. There are a lot of possibilities for modding but as of yet I haven't gotten into that. It comes from Modern Vapor (MV) a website known for its superior engagement of its costumers and support. Modern Vapor has been rounding out their lineup of models and the Lux is the latest for the maker.
Ordering:
I ordered the Lux on Monday (9/13) early in the afternoon eastern time. MV's new website was easy to navigate and and I must say the Lux looks dead like what is presented. MV showed its strengths with ease of order and relative bounty of data and images.
It arrived on Thursday evening which is typical of the USPS. Their tracking is abysmal but that is not so much a knock on MV. The package was a bubble wrapped envelope as per standard of MV.
I also ordered a metal carry case and a battery for my Sideshow (SS). Looking though the envelope I couldn't find the battery at first, MV had safely placed the battery in the case. Attention to detail is something they are strong in.
Unboxing & First Impressions:
The box is snazzy looking. Almost looks like it has two lids (though only one pulls off). With the top off the Lux stars at you in the face. One fully assembled Lux and one disassembled. It came with one rubberized cloth sleeve which fit one Lux snugly. I would use it for a pocket with keys... but for home the box it came in has foam which hugs all the parts of both included Luxes.
Assembled the Lux looks like a fine writing pen. In fact I'm sure that's what nearly anyone would mistake it as. The Lux is very close in approximate size and shape to a Sharpie (with cap). The Lux is the same length, slightly wider circumference and tappers a bit differently. If you hold a Sharpie with cap pointed towards you and compare it to a Lux with cart pointed towards you, the jewel button for the Lux would be where the S of the Sharpie logo starts. The Lux is quite a bit heftier though more along the lines of a screwdriver's weight. But it fits in one hand with a pretty good balance, which is surprising given the large battery. Just don't expect to hold it comfortably with just your mouth.
The design work on on the body looks amazing in bright light with its gentle curves. In indirect light it is subdued and takes back seat to the middle ring. The body piece that fits around the atty pushes on, but stays secure. I like its look for the most part, save where it ends towards the cart. It looks just a little disjointed and tacked on. Not bad mind you but staring at the Lux it is the only part that seems like it could be more integrated (and I'm sure some people will mod it like that)
The middle ring is stainless steel and inset from the body by a millimeter or so. This makes finding the button and holding the Lux very easy and comfortable. The jewel button looks way better than anticipated. It looks like a clear button with angular sides more than a gem. This better fits my non-bling-bling attire. The button raises out of the middle inset ring a bit. At first the button made me fear it could accidentally be pressed, but rolling the Lux on a table did not make it light up. It strikes the perfect balance of the button being able to be found by touch and yet not able to drain itself. The light on it is bright and the metal reflects it out around your finger. The blue is a very becoming ice like shade of color.
The flat stainless steel tip on the battery is a bit off putting to me, since I am so used to the Sideshow's rounded tip. I feel it would look better in the red and blue variants. One can set the Lux upright on a flat surface, which is something I really like. Though it is very easy to knock over so I would only suggest doing so in quiet environments.
The mouthpiece that comes with the Lux is a flat tip blank cart. It looks and feels nice in the mouth.
The included round pre-filled carts gave the Lux a slightly different look and feel a bit large in the mouth compared to the Sideshow. They come with some soft rubbery caps that fit over the cart instead of inside like the sideshow. I believe this will better contain the e-juice since it has more surface area. The carts fit very securely in the atty and require a bit of force to put on, indicating they should hold through thick and thin. The foil on the carts is a pain to take off. After going at it with a pin like I do the Sideshow's the cart leaked some juice upwards of the puncture. I am afraid what should happen if any foil gets stuck in the atty, since it is far inset inside a plastic tube. I decided to just carefully cut (Exacto) out the foil and remove it. This worked and I let the cart sit in the atty, while I went to charge the battery for the first time (Note: This is to prime the atty).
The charger is just a screw end for the battery and it looks like it will hold up to abuse. I think it could have been designed to just push on; but its a minor thing. What did bother me though was the USB cable is woefully short. It is 4 inches long and the charge light is on the USB cable which unfortunately how it fits in the provided wall charger points towards the wall outlet. I pray this is just a one off mistake and not the design. It made it near impossible to see if it is charged or not. Perhaps it goes better in a computer port, but I have yet to try that. *UPDATE* Just get a USB extension cable, use that to plug into the wall charger, and then plug the Lux end into the other end of the extension. This enables sight of the LED light and the charger then has a better length.
Vaping:
An hour or so later the battery was charged and ready to go. Put together the Lux jumped into action immediately producing significant vapor. This only increased as the night went and I found that much less air is needed compared to the Sideshow for the same amount of vapor. It is a little over medium hard draw not unlike a cigar. Also, both the regular atty and SS atty have a noticeable throat hit with the supplied menthol. The vapor is cool and became flavorful as the atty wore in. I had some company over and we vaped that thing HARD. I found no drop in performance other than a top off of juice once. Note: I believe we were just draining the thing faster than it can wick plus I like the flavor of Halo brand mint better. I had some heavy smokers over and had them try it. Passing it around constantly and just playing around blowing so much vapor around we did not drain the battery. Afterwords, one smoker went outside and lit an analog and half way though put it down saying he had enough nicotine. This is a guy who once smoked three hookahs stating he was in, "Flavor country". When asked "why three hookahs?", he said "It's a big country" (A quote from the Simpsons). I was floored he didn't smoke the whole analog, I've never seen that happen before. He seemed like he did it to see the difference and after coming back inside started asking more about e-cigs.
Conclusion:
I am very happy with my purchase and feel this is a great buy for they money. Considering the Lux is (currently because of sale) cheaper than the 902 whilst have much larger batteries means it is the better buy right now for anyone who desires more capacity at the cost of a somewhat increased size and weight.
Please leave any thoughts or questions concerning the Lux. Thanks for reading.
***Warning! The Lux and 501 series (such as Ego) cannot use each others chargers since they are reverse polarity! They won't work and will damage the batteries!***
<<<<< good to meet you Lelek 
