"P" envy, the offer I couldn't refuse, and my vaping story.

[DuffTime]

So, my long story is simple, and like many other vapers that succeed in getting off analogs:

Started with an eGo battery with a vision clearo. Great! I get nicotine, I get flavor, and my car doesn't smell like dead rat .... Awesome! But soon... I find that I'm not getting the punch I want. I see a fellow vaper at the bar who is using this space age looking PV, and upon further inquiry find that he's been vaping for 2 years and just loves his eVic. I try it, and it's great! Even better than any other setup I'd managed to make. So I order one. I'd been vaping for just a couple months and when I got my eVic, vaping had been reinvented for me. I chugged away happily on this, bought my wife a Vamo (now her backup, we're getting to that) and life was good. There was something in the back of my mind saying I could do better, but I accepted that vaping had to have its shortfalls somewhere, and left it at that.

But then... out of the clouds of vaper that is my apartment, shines a classified ad. The offer. A banging ad for a Provari. Now I had heard. Oh, I had heard that this couldn't be beat, that it was untouchable, but me and my cocky self couldn't come to believe it. So naturally, I go for proof. O-scopes, reviews(including PBusardo, who made a cult-like intro for his Provari review), the whole nine. It was priced to sell, and sell it did. To my wife. It was purple, and all hers.

Good for her, I think. I'll be happy plowing away on my eVic with the pretty screen and the quirky little dial. Nothing could pull me away from this seemingly awesome little chinese computer programmed to deliver excellence into my body.

So it arrives in the mail, and a cloud passes over me. The ominous feel was impossible to shake. We walk inside, tear into this vapemail, and out comes her Provari. It sat there in its smugness as my wife put in a fresh battery. One vape, and she starts giggling like a kindergarten kid. So I have to try it.

I instantly found what I was missing. That one little thing that made me sit my PV down now and then and just ignore it. But I figure, "It can't be THAT different. Set up a test: your eVic, her Provari, and then you'll know there's no difference." So, same cartos, same juice, same voltage, fresh batteries, same everything. There it was. Plain as day. My beautiful device was lying to me! It couldn't be! But it was. So I rush off to get my own Provari so I can finally get that something I was missing.

I take back every off color thing I said about the Provari. I hope it forgives me and continues to work like the little perfectly tuned fog machine that it is.

Thanks for reading all! Bottom line is, I can be wrong, price DOES make a difference in some cases, and to do your research and don't be affected by a culture that can seem fanboy-ish at some times, for there is truth to all things.

TL;DR: Wife got a Provari, I was jealous, got my own, it's awesome.

 

[tidegirl]

LOL welcome to the cult

 

[Harplayr]

You're right, there really is nothing like that first hit off a Porvari.
I read countless threads and posts over the past year and a half since I started vaping, and po-poo'd most of them.

Then I got an Anyvape CVI that I thought would be even better than the Provari because it did VW and had an oled screen. That lasted me 3 weeks before it broke and didn't vape much better than my spinner. It was also a huge honkin thing that didn't travel well in my pocket. I returned it for a refund. I figured I could spend twice as much but come out ahead in the long run due to the excellent build quality and warranty provided by Provape.

My mini arrived yesterday, and like you it took only 1 vape to see what all the fuss was about. Plain and simple it IS better.

 

[Tommy Aces]

It's funny. It seems that the VairHaters all have one thing in common....they don't own one. Or, they'll lie and claim they had one, but hated it and sold it.

I was never a hater on the ProVari before I had it. However, I didn't think it could possibly be all that people said it was. I'm happy to admit that I was very wrong.

Congrats on the new toy OP. It's a great device and should make you very happy for a very long time. You may find that now that you own a Vari, you won't have the desire to buy every new device that comes out.

 

[brock957]

Awesome and well told story. A provari mini is top of my to get list.

 

[unclestu]

At times I wish I started my journey with a device of lesser quality or performance rather than starting off out of the box with a Provari. I than could become "born again".

 

[chadsmo]

Welcome to the club of non-haters lol.

In the first two months of vaping I went;

510 stick battery
Ego Twist
eVic
Provari....

Nivel Chip mod by Mamu ( will be here in a few days )
Saving for second Provari.


If you were using a carto as your comparison I can believe that you noticed it right away. The week I got my Provari was the week before I stopped vaping pre built stuff and had some cartos left. The vape from a carto on a Provari is night and day compared to anything else.

 

[DuffTime]

Welcome to the club of non-haters lol.

In the first two months of vaping I went;

510 stick battery
Ego Twist
eVic
Provari....

Nivel Chip mod by Mamu ( will be here in a few days )
Saving for second Provari.


If you were using a carto as your comparison I can believe that you noticed it right away. The week I got my Provari was the week before I stopped vaping pre built stuff and had some cartos left. The vape from a carto on a Provari is night and day compared to anything else.

I actually followed the same path. eGO-c, Twist, eVic, Provari.

I've got my preferred device, cartos, tanks... now just the juice! Gotta start DIY here soon.

 

[Baditude]

It's truly difficult to explain to non-owners why a Provari is "better" than the rest. It just "is".

Like PBusardo says in his infamous review, until you have seen one, held one, vaped one, and owned one....then you'll "get it".

 

[Susan W.]

I love my Provari. That being said, it's still an expensive PV and if the eVic served you right for so long, it's just as good. The "real" bottom line is getting off of analogs. If you had not tried the Provari, you would still be just as happy with your eVic. Still, welcome to the Provari fan club.

 

[DuffTime]

True, but I believe that even though I've spent more money on e-cig related stuff than I would have spent on analogs, anything that keeps me further detached from them is a step up. And now I can help someone who might be 100% satisfied by the eVic. I just found that I wanted more power than it could deliver.

 

[mundane24]

very entertaining story! great job composing! kept me on the edge!

.... and yeah enjoy ur new provari!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[kalison]

I love the story.

I too was in the same mind set before I got my first ProVari. I had Lava Tubes and eGo batteries. I never poo poo'd on the ProVari, I just always saw that sticker shock and said "It's not worth it". Deep down I did indeed want one, but, the price always kept me thinking it was not worth it.... all my other stuff works!

I got my first ProVari about a year ago, Black with Blue LED. That changed my mind the second I powered it up for the first time!

I love mine and just got another one (The Blue ones on clearance).

The only thing I can say, is that the ProVari is soooo BORING... I mean it just works day in and day out.... nothing to worry about.... always ready and willing....working....never failing.....working.

 

[Dannyboy5691]

It's truly difficult to explain to non-owners why a Provari is "better" than the rest. It just "is".

Like PBusardo says in his infamous review, until you have seen one, held one, vaped one, and owned one....then you'll "get it".

Do you believe his statement's mean that the Provari's vape quality is immediately apparent over other other mods? Because if you did, I think his reply in the comments section of the Provari review video is contradictive.


pbusardoMar 11, 2013
There are some people who prefer the smooth output on the ProVari over the PWM of something like a VAMO. I have, at times, been able to tell the difference between the two, but it is subtle.

I think the key words in his reply, "at times" and "subtle", are very telling.

 

[Robinowitz]

Great story! I was one of those that started with a Provari. I was unable to get to a brick and mortar store and did all my research on-line. I knew that I needed to stop the analogs and I knew my best chance was by using a mod that WORKED...all the time. The reviewers are so correct! I love my Provari and it hasn't led me astray once. For me, it's a huge plus that it is USA made as well. Congratulations!

 

[EvilOne]

Do you believe his statement's mean that the Provari's vape quality is immediately apparent over other other mods? Because if you did, I think his reply in the comments section of the Provari review video is contradictive.


pbusardoMar 11, 2013
There are some people who prefer the smooth output on the ProVari over the PWM of something like a VAMO. I have, at times, been able to tell the difference between the two, but it is subtle.

I think the key words in his reply, "at times" and "subtle", are very telling.

if you know what your looking for its very apparent the difference. for me having come from cheap china mods the first puff off my friends Provari and I knew this was the way to quit.

 

[Dannyboy5691]

if you know what your looking for its very apparent the difference. for me having come from cheap china mods the first puff off my friends Provari and I knew this was the way to quit.

Can you elaborate please? Because Pbusardo's statement would lead one to believe that it's difficult to tell the difference. When one takes his experience into consideration, one would expect that he would state apparent vape quality differences in his review.

 

[Tommy Aces]

Can you elaborate please? Because Pbusardo's statement would lead one to believe that it's difficult to tell the difference. When one takes his experience into consideration, one would expect that he would state apparent vape quality differences in his review.

I'll tell you this much. If you are using cartomizers, you can tell there is a difference, and I don't find it very subtle. I'm not sure of the reasons behind it on the cartomizer end (maybe high gauge resistance wire?), but I can run cartos at WAY higher voltage/wattage on my ProVari(s) than I can on say one of my VAMOs or SVDs before I start to get a dry/burnt taste.

When it comes to the overall vape/flavor, I would say that is slightly more subtle, but noticeable. Believe me, I was as skeptical as anybody before I got my first ProVari. I was sold on the device by the reputation of quality/durability/service, but I was pleasantly surprised when the performance confirmed everything that the ProVari owners were saying about it.

I also think that you are interpreting Phil's comment as you want it to read. He clearly notices something, because I've never seen him give anything the praise he gave the ProVari. Also, it seems that unless he is reviewing another mod, he always has one of his ProVaris in hand.

And as much as I like and respect Phil and his opinions, lets not forget that he isn't some kind of oracle. He is a Vaper, just like us. In this case, he just happens to be in agreement with the vast majority of ProVari owners. I don't think that we are all making this stuff up in our heads. There is a reason certain devices have "fanboys/girls".

 

[EvilOne]

Can you elaborate please? Because Pbusardo's statement would lead one to believe that it's difficult to tell the difference. When one takes his experience into consideration, one would expect that he would state apparent vape quality differences in his review.

for me having tried other devices before. The first puff was like "where have you been all my life?"

 

[SuperDave68]

Love the story also. My vaping path was also somewhat similar. I started with one of those free give away 510 carto style sticks, and they rape you evey month on the pre-filled cartos, then I moved up to a joyetech Ecab which was way better, but still had issues, poor battery life, leaking tank, way to tight of a draw.
so i jumped on an Evic, with a AGA t2 RBA, and WOW I was in vapeing heaven . so a couple of months go by, and i start noticing inconsistency problems with the evic, great vape sometimes, then weak, then burnt, so i narrowed it down to the poor regulation over the charge of the battery, actually put it on the oscope and verified different output voltage and waveforms at various charge states. then after a few tip overs/falls I became concerned with the durability and figured i needed a backup and didni't want to buy another evic control head with it's misgivings. I saw the oscope patterns of the provari and knew that is what i wanted, rock solid output regardless of battery charge, only problem, i had grown accustomed to the OLED screen on the evic, and having all the information you could want right there at a glance without having to pushbuttons in various combinations. so about a month ago i said "well I guess I will just have to live with the inferior controls and get a provari"

So when it arrived, put my bat in ,and the first pleasant thing i noticed was the weight of it, it just felt solid. attached the AGA and got a nice vape the first time. every vape since the first (okay almost every, have had some issues with the aga wicking, but not the prov's fault) has been great and consistent, and i don't miss the OLED screen, because with the provari, you don't need to be constantly fiddling with it.

right now the evic is sitting collecting dust as a backup to the provari, but I am considering getting another provari, because now i can't imagine having to use the evic for a week or two if something happens to the provari and needs to be sent in for repairs.