New member - haven't even bought an e-cig yet!

[Eric in AK]

Hi there,
I guess it will take a bit of reading to even begin to understand what my first purchase should be. I look at various sites and they all seem to have "starter kits", but some come pre-filled with various flavors I'm not sure I want to bother with, some you have to fill, some come with warranties, some don't offer money-back guarantees.....you've heard it all before, I'm sure: I'm confused, in other words.

I'll try searching the forum and the primer and stuff, but I wondered if anyone has a recommendation for an initial purchase so I can try an e-cig and have enough supplies or whatever to last a couple weeks. Right now I smoke about a dozen hand-rolled regular cigarettes a day, so that will give you an idea of the level of nicotine I'm at.

I'd rather keep my initial purchase simple and straightforward: Atomizer, cartridges, battery, charger. Not a bunch of exotic flavors until I know what I'm doing. I've looked at a couple reviews on this site and think either a 510 or 901 might work....just looking for something that will work without breaking during the first couple weeks and will let me know if this is something I'll enjoy.

Anyway, I look forward to reading some of the threads and learning a bunch of stuff, and if anyone has any guidance that doesn't involve tons of optional stuff, I'll be forever grateful. Thanks so much!

 

[Mary Kay]

Go with the 510 for a first buy. just get a bottle of e-liquid. I know you don't want to mess with it, but it's the best way to go. It's cheaper to refill yourself and you can add a bit of glycerin to the bottle to increase vapor production. Glycerin can be found at any drug, craft, grocery store or even Wal-mart..look for USP on the bottle! Those prefilled carts just don't last long! (once they are vaped out, pull the filler out, rinse under clear water pat dry and stuff the filler back in..and refill, easy peasy) You also may want to try some sample size bottles to figure out your favorite flavors.
You have seen the kits, so you know what to expect. One atomizer, 2 batteries and 5 prefilled carts. Oh yeah, a charger! Please do yourself a favor and get a second atomizer right away and maybe 1 extra battery.. Backups are very important as you never know when a part will go south on you! Once you get started you don't want to be caught with no batts or atty's.
That's as straightforward as I can get!
Welcome to ECF!

 

[Kavey]

The 510 kit at Cignot your Midwest Electronic Cigarette store. is a good deal. I just ordered one earlier. Its two entire 510s just with only one charger and some cartridges.
40 bucks shipped.
If you go with a 510 that is about the best deal I think youll find.. ive been looking around for a couple of hours making sure I was getting the best deal before I bought one.

 

[catlvr]

You beat me to it Kavey! Yes the 510 unboxed kit from cignot is the best deal I've found and a perfect starter kit.

 

[ePuffDaddy]

New member here as well, and no e-cig yet!

But I already ordered an m401 and hope to receive it within the week.

The 510 seemed the perfect choice (and the popular one, at that, if polls among newbies were an indication). I like its being allegedly a smoke, er, vapor machine, and the throat hit one can derive from it. But I am somewhat uncomfortable with dripping and the learning curve and high maintenance that go with it. I've read about dipping, and it seems to suit my lazy ways, not to mention testimonies hereabouts that there's less wastage when dipping and that it preserves atty life better. I am also looking for one that has long battery life; being a pack-a-day smoker, I dread the prospect of running out of batts before reaching nic satiety. Hence, my choice of m401.

Did I choose well for a noob?

 

[Kavey]

From one newbie to another I gotta say it sounds like you did your research and chose what was best for YOU. So yeah I think you made a good choice.

 

[jnakamura]

New member here as well, and no e-cig yet!

But I already ordered an m401 and hope to receive it within the week.

The 510 seemed the perfect choice (and the popular one, at that, if polls among newbies were an indication). I like its being allegedly a smoke, er, vapor machine, and the throat hit one can derive from it. But I am somewhat uncomfortable with dripping and the learning curve and high maintenance that go with it. I've read about dipping, and it seems to suit my lazy ways, not to mention testimonies hereabouts that there's less wastage when dipping and that it preserves atty life better. I am also looking for one that has long battery life; being a pack-a-day smoker, I dread the prospect of running out of batts before reaching nic satiety. Hence, my choice of m401.

Did I choose well for a noob?

The M-series (401, 402, 403) are decent starters. My first e-cig was a M-403 (same as 401 but shorter battery) and although I mainly vape my 510s now, I still like my 403.

 

[optsmk]

A 510 is a great first e-cig. It comes with everything you need plus an extra atty for when you mess the first one up I would also recommend buying some juice as well. There are many different flavors to choose from. There is really no juice that I have tired that really tastes like analogs, so don't get your hopes up. But you will most likely like the taste of whatever flavor of juice you get.

Juice up and vape out!

 

[ePuffDaddy]

Thanks Kavey

@jnakamura: does it mean I will eventually graduate to the 510? Though I've yet to have first-hand experience with e-cigs, the dripping process that go with the 510 and other brands that have no exposed wicks seems to be quite a task for me. Unless you can teach me a thing or two about your ways with your 510.

@optsmk: good thing our local supplier sells extra m401 attys, so that about covers any possibility of me messing up the kit atty. Knowing me, that possibility is quite high.

 

[jnakamura]

Thanks Kavey

@jnakamura: does it mean I will eventually graduate to the 510? Though I've yet to have first-hand experience with e-cigs, the dripping process that go with the 510 and other brands that have no exposed wicks seems to be quite a task for me. Unless you can teach me a thing or two about your ways with your 510.

You don't need to drip with a 510. I only drip when I break in a new atty, other wise I just fill my carts and pop them onto the atomizer. Dripping is nothing to be scared of though. All you do is hold your atomizer vertical and drip one or two drops of juice on the wick. Just don't drip with an auto battery e cig because you don't want the juice getting into the battery compartment. The manual batteries are sealed so that's not really an issue.

 

[NaviRahu]

I personally just went with a 510 from heaven-gifts.com. Though it is shipping from China, so I don't know how well that would work for you. I just got the 510 starter kit and a bottle of clove. Just topping off the same cart right now seems to be doing fine for me. Many kits on most sites I've seen so far usually come with pre-filled carts in tobacco flavor or menthol. Mine came with five marlboro carts in different strengths to try. I think the carts that came with it plus the sampler bottle of clove will last me for a decent time.

 

[Eric in AK]

Wow, thank you all for your input. As soon as I get home from work tonight I'll do some shopping online, since we don't have any place local that sells e-cigs or supplies (yet). I'd rather not deal with ordering from China at first, just because I'm leery of dealing with defective merchandise, wrong orders, etc., when I'm new to this myself. While I wait for whatever I order to arrive I'll spend some time in the forum looking for the tips and techniques that I've only just heard of. This is amazing, finding such an active forum of enthusiasts.

Can't wait to get to vapin'. Thanks again!

 

[marcsnothere]

here is a copy of my first post. It is what I bought, and I am VERY happy with it. Didnt come with instructions, but this site has plenty of that for the 510. Order yourself some good juice right away, I wasnt happy with the pure juice that came with the order.

.......
A HUGE THANK YOU to the creator(s) and those involved in keeping this board going!! I have sifted though so much info on here, and have truly learned a lot. A special thats to DonDaBoomVapefor his time spent on the illustrated guide thread.

After learning of these possible life saving e-cigs a few days ago, I virtually traveled over to Innovapor.com and ordered the following:
2 Complete Manual Joye510 Personal Vaporizers - (2 Batteries, 2 Atomizers, 2 Empty Carts for direct dripping)
2 Extra Atomizers
1 Personal Charging Case
1 USB Charger w/12" cord
2 3ml bottles of ECOpure menthol 15mg
1 3ml bottle of ECOpure pure 20mg
8 Blank cartridges
1 USB Passthrough
After coupon code, ($12.70 off) Total cost shipped....$114.30
Then, after reading great reviews, I traveled over to LiteCigUSA and ordered the following juices:
1 10ml 16mg Cherry
1 10ml 16mg Vanilla
1 10ml 16mg RY4
1 10ml 16mg FruitPunch
After Coupon Code, ($0.99 off) Total shipped....$23.81
Grand Total: $138.11

My wife and I will both be using these, and yes, I know I may need to order another kit (probly a cheaper one from cignot), and other misc things, but to start off with, I think I am on the right track!!

Hopefully this turn out well, and hopefully new people looking into buyng this, will find my post usefull!

 

[Eric in AK]

After coupon code, ($12.70 off)

Thanks again. I'm trying to learn my way around the forum, but I thought I'd risk seeming lazy and just ask: Does anyone know if there's a thread or sub-forum that tells about current coupon codes or promotions from various e-tailers?

 

[bassn99]

I have to agree since I started dripping the satisfaction level is much higher. Refilling carts just seems to waste so much juice because if you keep trying to vape to it's all gone the taste really suffers. I use a 901 and have a 501 coming too. Dripping is not that big of a deal.

 

[merkel04]

Thanks again. I'm trying to learn my way around the forum, but I thought I'd risk seeming lazy and just ask: Does anyone know if there's a thread or sub-forum that tells about current coupon codes or promotions from various e-tailers?

I've always gotten my coupon codes from igetcha's review site. He's got a ton on there...

Welcome To The Home Of Independent E-Cig Reviews!

 

[Eric in AK]

Partly out of frustration, but mainly because it seemed like a good deal, I ended up placing my first order ever with cignot yesterday. Today they sent me an e-mail to say my order had been mailed. Since I like in Alaska, I'm guessing I won't see the package until at least Monday. You folks that live in the lower 48 are lucky to have roads and stuff connecting you to each other!

Anyway, I got the Joye 510 "no box" kit, which seemed a decent deal: $35 for 2 complete Joye 510 cigarettes (2 atomizers and 2 batteries), 5 prefilled carts, 1 AC charger. I also ordered the personal charger case, a couple different strengths of EcoPure juice, and some blank cartridges. Total cost: $85.

I realize I should order now to have other flavors/strengths of juice, maybe a backup atty and batt.... not sure what else.

I read through DonDaBoomVape's excellent sticky thread, watched a couple short vids, and drooled at the thought that a few days from now I'm gonna be vaping with the rest of you. Can't wait to read the "tips and tricks".

Let me mention something that maybe others have said on other threads regarding benefits, but this is for those who, like me, prefer hand-rolled analogs: One of the things I most look forward to is no more tar-stained fingers. If you smoke hand-rolled analogs, you either have to wash your hands after each one or take a pumice to your fingers to avoid getting the saffron-colored stains on the fingers that hold the cig. Can't wait to be done with that hassle!

Thanks again to all who've provided guidance on this and other threads. I'm happy I found this forum!