I wasn't sure where to post this, so I did in the newbie forum yesterday, but I figured some people might come here to read the review, so I'll re post it here. Just pretend it is yesterday...
I just ordered a Sidesho on Sunday, which arrived today, and I want to compare notes through a review.
I heard about the Sidesho by doing some research after hearing about the MyLuci cigarette about a year ago. I was going to buy a Luci around Christmas time, when I approached my wife about my switch from Djarum Black Analogs (due to health reasons, and the fact that the price of my cloves has skyrocketed: when I first started they were $4.75, now they were getting up to $7.19...but the point is moot now as they're now banned in the US...). Problem was back then that the startup cost was going to be about $150, and to do something like that for something I couldn't get in clove flavor, was out of the question.
Anyway, wanting to get on the eCig bandwagon, I researched the possibility of the Luci having a clove flavor, but they didn't offer anything outside the basic 4 flavors. I then found that there were more out there beyond that brand that actually looked like analogs. Blu cig, Vapor King, and Green Cig came highly recommended but there were certain attributes that I didn't like (the VK's whereas they had clove carts, looked riDONKulous to me with their faux Louis Vouitton branding all over the battery; Blu Cig looked like my Djarums, but didn't have blank carts; etc.).
At that point, I was trying to make a final decision, when the Sidesho was proffered. The price was reasonable, they had blank carts, as well as Clove e-liquid! Deal was sealed, wife was stoked that I was going to quit/cut down on analogs. I ordered the Black cart/atomizer/battery combo kit (as they looked just like my old Djarum Blacks) with a blue LED (apparently they were out of the white). It looks classy, and very sleek. I don't care what the top stickied forum post says about the black and blue units and how they look like a weird gadget. I hate the White and Brown/Orange look, and it doesn't draw attention. Whereas with this I'll have people asking me about it all the time and I might be able to get more people in on vaping, thus making it a more respected alternative. It's a wonderful cycle, word of mouth.
I received it today, after shooting back a few e-mails back and forth with Tony (nice guy, by the way). Getting the actual product was quite fantastic. It was not at all cheap looking in packaging, not in build quality. The eCig was fantastic looking, had a bit of heft, and looks like it'll last a long time. The atomizer was smaller than I thought it would be and did not seem at all flimsy either. The carts also were the right length. They might be better if they were a bit shorter with a larger reservoir inside, but again I'm new to this. The extra accessories were also very welcome: a spare battery, a spare atomizer, and the 4 tobacco flavored carts stored in the PCC. I also received the clove eliquid in it's own package, and something that I didn't realize when I ordered it, it came with 5 blank carts, so the EXTRA 5 blank carts I ordered were a bit pointless. All in all the packaging was very professional and very impressive.
The PCC is a brilliant idea. being able to charge the batteries in your pocket while on the go was a masterstroke, and makes these things quality products rather than a flawed design that doesn't work very well. My only complaint is the placement of the charge cradle within the PCC: there's a plastic lip that prevents the battery from being easily screwed into the connector sometimes making it difficult to insert or remove the battery from charging.
The blank carts with the bottled eJuice or eLiquid (depending on your favored lexicon) seems like it takes some getting used to. After watching a few YouTube videos from links that Tony provided to me, I felt comfortable enough to do the task myself. Soon I had properly filled up a blank cart with my clove ejuice and I hit my patio to do my first bit of vaping.
The general mechanism of the Sidesho works very, very well: I had no eliquid blowback (apparently I filled it properly), the battery switches on and allows you to pull it whenever you draw in not just whenever anything happens around you (like I've heard about certain automatics), and I got a moderate to heavy throat hit depending on how hard I pulled on the eCig.
My only qualm are these two things:
1) I must be too used the the Djarums, or this ecig has a long breaking in period, because the vapor I was pulling in was harsh, and didn't taste like cloves. It tasted more like how the Glycerin smells. Not very appealing, when you first start out. I hope that it improves over the period of the weekend, because if it sustains itself in this fashion, I'll have to look elsewhere for my eliquid than ModernVapor. The main reason why I wanted to get their eliquid was because I figured that their liquid would be the best for their product. But if it continues along this path, I'll have no choice but to switch to something else (I've seen that Runyan Direct has actual Djarum Black ejuice, but I have yet to see anyone post an actual review of the stuff. I won't buy it without at least 1 review, especially if I have to wait a long time + pay for overseas charges).
2) The battery life falls of nearly completely when it goes dead. There's no real wearing down of the process letting you get lighter and lighter draws until you need to recharge. The atomizer just stops producing vapor it seems when you no longer have enough charge to run the atomizer and the LED at the same time. I almost thought there was something wrong with the unit, or that I had used up all the ejuice in the cart, but lo and behold when I popped in my backup battery, I was able to vape again unhindered. I know that there is apparently a low power warning on the battery using the LED, but if you miss it once, I don't know if it presents itself before it can no longer power the atomizer.
All in all I'm pleased with my purchase. As time goes on I may look into other eCigs that have less harsher draws, or have a smaller form factor, or superb design quality but for the $79.95 I paid, I am quite pleased with not having to continue buying analogs, especially when they are going to be import only for me now on.
I'll post more on this once I become a full member.
Thanks for reading!
~JYH
I just ordered a Sidesho on Sunday, which arrived today, and I want to compare notes through a review.
I heard about the Sidesho by doing some research after hearing about the MyLuci cigarette about a year ago. I was going to buy a Luci around Christmas time, when I approached my wife about my switch from Djarum Black Analogs (due to health reasons, and the fact that the price of my cloves has skyrocketed: when I first started they were $4.75, now they were getting up to $7.19...but the point is moot now as they're now banned in the US...). Problem was back then that the startup cost was going to be about $150, and to do something like that for something I couldn't get in clove flavor, was out of the question.
Anyway, wanting to get on the eCig bandwagon, I researched the possibility of the Luci having a clove flavor, but they didn't offer anything outside the basic 4 flavors. I then found that there were more out there beyond that brand that actually looked like analogs. Blu cig, Vapor King, and Green Cig came highly recommended but there were certain attributes that I didn't like (the VK's whereas they had clove carts, looked riDONKulous to me with their faux Louis Vouitton branding all over the battery; Blu Cig looked like my Djarums, but didn't have blank carts; etc.).
At that point, I was trying to make a final decision, when the Sidesho was proffered. The price was reasonable, they had blank carts, as well as Clove e-liquid! Deal was sealed, wife was stoked that I was going to quit/cut down on analogs. I ordered the Black cart/atomizer/battery combo kit (as they looked just like my old Djarum Blacks) with a blue LED (apparently they were out of the white). It looks classy, and very sleek. I don't care what the top stickied forum post says about the black and blue units and how they look like a weird gadget. I hate the White and Brown/Orange look, and it doesn't draw attention. Whereas with this I'll have people asking me about it all the time and I might be able to get more people in on vaping, thus making it a more respected alternative. It's a wonderful cycle, word of mouth.
I received it today, after shooting back a few e-mails back and forth with Tony (nice guy, by the way). Getting the actual product was quite fantastic. It was not at all cheap looking in packaging, not in build quality. The eCig was fantastic looking, had a bit of heft, and looks like it'll last a long time. The atomizer was smaller than I thought it would be and did not seem at all flimsy either. The carts also were the right length. They might be better if they were a bit shorter with a larger reservoir inside, but again I'm new to this. The extra accessories were also very welcome: a spare battery, a spare atomizer, and the 4 tobacco flavored carts stored in the PCC. I also received the clove eliquid in it's own package, and something that I didn't realize when I ordered it, it came with 5 blank carts, so the EXTRA 5 blank carts I ordered were a bit pointless. All in all the packaging was very professional and very impressive.
The PCC is a brilliant idea. being able to charge the batteries in your pocket while on the go was a masterstroke, and makes these things quality products rather than a flawed design that doesn't work very well. My only complaint is the placement of the charge cradle within the PCC: there's a plastic lip that prevents the battery from being easily screwed into the connector sometimes making it difficult to insert or remove the battery from charging.
The blank carts with the bottled eJuice or eLiquid (depending on your favored lexicon) seems like it takes some getting used to. After watching a few YouTube videos from links that Tony provided to me, I felt comfortable enough to do the task myself. Soon I had properly filled up a blank cart with my clove ejuice and I hit my patio to do my first bit of vaping.
The general mechanism of the Sidesho works very, very well: I had no eliquid blowback (apparently I filled it properly), the battery switches on and allows you to pull it whenever you draw in not just whenever anything happens around you (like I've heard about certain automatics), and I got a moderate to heavy throat hit depending on how hard I pulled on the eCig.
My only qualm are these two things:
1) I must be too used the the Djarums, or this ecig has a long breaking in period, because the vapor I was pulling in was harsh, and didn't taste like cloves. It tasted more like how the Glycerin smells. Not very appealing, when you first start out. I hope that it improves over the period of the weekend, because if it sustains itself in this fashion, I'll have to look elsewhere for my eliquid than ModernVapor. The main reason why I wanted to get their eliquid was because I figured that their liquid would be the best for their product. But if it continues along this path, I'll have no choice but to switch to something else (I've seen that Runyan Direct has actual Djarum Black ejuice, but I have yet to see anyone post an actual review of the stuff. I won't buy it without at least 1 review, especially if I have to wait a long time + pay for overseas charges).
2) The battery life falls of nearly completely when it goes dead. There's no real wearing down of the process letting you get lighter and lighter draws until you need to recharge. The atomizer just stops producing vapor it seems when you no longer have enough charge to run the atomizer and the LED at the same time. I almost thought there was something wrong with the unit, or that I had used up all the ejuice in the cart, but lo and behold when I popped in my backup battery, I was able to vape again unhindered. I know that there is apparently a low power warning on the battery using the LED, but if you miss it once, I don't know if it presents itself before it can no longer power the atomizer.
All in all I'm pleased with my purchase. As time goes on I may look into other eCigs that have less harsher draws, or have a smaller form factor, or superb design quality but for the $79.95 I paid, I am quite pleased with not having to continue buying analogs, especially when they are going to be import only for me now on.
I'll post more on this once I become a full member.
Thanks for reading!
~JYH
