Personal preferences differ but I'm totally amazed that people are "ok" with the battery door situation. I don't see people being ok with any other consumer electronic device that has an impossible to open battery door and terminals that bend in on themselves when batteries are inserted.
A poorly designed battery compartment with flimsy springs and a recessed connection that limits which batteries can be used and which doesn't close properly are real flaws with the V8. On the other hand, I haven't seen a variable voltage mod that works for this price (but I'll admit I haven't looked at solid metal tubes that use 18650s as they are too heavy for me.) At this price, if they work well for a year, I'll feel I got my money's worth. And the speed with which this industry is evolving, in a year they'll be obsolete anyway.
I say "they" because I just bought another one. So I needed to buy two more sets of batteries (I'll have 1 set in each and one set charging.) There seems to be a run on AW IMR 18350s. If you're looking, here are the prices I found while googling. (I've only heard of about half of these sites. Some of them could be sleazoid scam artists. So pick with care.)
The discount codes are in parentheses after the names. All of the discount codes, except LightHound's, come from
- ECF Electronic Cigarette Coupon codes
Price with coupon
lighthound.com (cpf = 2%) $7.35 sold out
supertmanufacturing.com $7.59 sold out
empiremods.com (Vapetv = 5%) $7.59
ecigma.com $7.59
puresmoker.com $7.99
vaporcigzz.com $7.99
overready.com $8.00
vaporkings.com (VKBC = 10%) $8.06
thehouseofvapor.com (vf = 10%) $8.09
The following have them for $8.95 or higher:
peakvapor.com
discountvapor.com (sold out)
goodejuice.com (ECF10 = 10%)
electronicstix.com
kalamazoovaporshop.com
delawarevapor.com
LightHounds has always been my go-to place for any batteries they carry. They usually aren't the cheapest, but they are competitive and have great service. If they weren't sold out, I wouldn't have looked any further.