PodStick-initial thoughts

[United States]

Thanks to Chelsea a sample version of the pod stick arrived at my home yesterday. Now while Mrs Fixer was at work I had it all to myself while waiting to go to work for a night shift. It arrived while I should've been sleeping but I was too excited to sleep.

I puffed on it some, tried to catnap to no avail and puffed on it some more. At work later I had my pockets loaded with gadgets and gizmos so it stayed in my truck while I walked around a construction project. I did not want to drop it and have it squashed by a steam roller or eaten by a pavement munching machine.

I did however manage to visit my truck more often than usual. I like to think the PodStick was the reason. Now for clarity I've been digging on a Vladdin RE for a time over my former favorite the Zero. The Zero was my answer to a quest for a 2010 cig-a-like I longed for. Yet it weighed down my shirt pocket enough to begin to leave it at home when the max lightweight Vladdin arrived. First thing noticed about the podstick is how light weight it is. A pleasant surprise.

Using it on medium with an 80vg is like the Zero, nice and smooth. The drag has that little extra something the Zero did not quite have. Zero is sweet no doubt, but the slight added resistance on the podstick makes it pretty close to a cig-a-like. Mrs Fixer took it from me this morning and said "finally a vaper that hits like a cigarette". I did manage to get it back from her while she was distracted.

I'm not a fan of a fire button but the podstick fire button seems to play nice with me. It's just so smooth and productive that miscues aren't resulting in a choking experience or a under production. It's like it learns from me and even though I misfire it still delivers the production amount I seek. Amazing.

The tip is a familiar 510 smooth wall type where the unfamiliar part is slide it sideways to expose the push to fill bung. Slide it back until it clicks. Done.

The well centered micro usb port is on the bottom. Mine arrived 80% charged and it stayed cool while topping it up. Some devices light solid while charging and light shuts off when done. The podstick life indicators light in sequence beginning at the one it was down to. In my case the fourth lit then fifth in a sequential way and stayed solid when full.

The body on my silver version is pretty smooth. I suppose some would prefer some texture or knurling. I didn't miss it. Perhaps with gloves in winter or wet hands that would be an issue.

In casual hold the fire button rests under my middle finger and the whole thing feels pretty natural. The flat side makes pressing the fire button and ensuring holding it fire button forward normal. No hunting for the fire button in the dark. Press the fire button and an outter ring glows a color of the chosen setting. The Zero on/off button glowed a particular color to let you know battery strength but the postick has up to 5 lights for that. Can't say I preferred one method over the other. In the podstick case the fire button is also the on/off button.

I'll post more later

 

[Vaporesso_Milo]

Please try more on the different 2 pods, any feedback, please let us know

 

[United States]

The mesh coil is going in later today.

It arrived with a 1.3 installed, which is my preferred so I wanted to use that one first. It has a 6 strength freebase in it called tortoise blood I find I use the most. I mostly stealth type vape so that was my initial goal and the podstick passed that test with ease.

This evening my thinking is a direct side by side compare with a Burst flavor called ShurBerst in a Target Mini II using a lightweight dtl method like I do with the Mini II.

By the way, when Mrs States uses it she prefers the round part in her curved fingers with thumb for the fire button versus me using it in my palm curve with middle finger on the fire button. Either way to hold it is not clumsy, no protrusions or corners are noticed nor lack of grip being an issue.

 

[United States]

Swapped the MTL tank for the free flowing, low resistance DTL tank and good gosh!!!! Quite the surprise soon resulted along with a ten minute nic buzz.

It was like adding a turbo charged 4 cylinder engine and a 6th gear to my 5 speed geared single cylinder engine'd lawn tractor.

Instead of a 6 strength juice in the MTL tank the DTL tank has an 80vg 3 strength in it. Glad I did too. At 6 strength I might have fallen out of my chair after three drags.
As an MTL fan it was like drinking my ice tea through a garden hose sized straw. Now I no longer have the lungs to do a 5 second full on drag from this baby to see what it's really capable of. But I can say that after I took a few slight DTL drags it was pretty obvious, pretty quickly that the DTL tank has quite the potential to be a great backup for the big tank, 810 sized tip user.

Ten minutes later my kitchen still has the pleasant aroma of Charlies Chalk Dust fuji apple/ strawberry/ nectarine. Air freshener? Who needs that when the Vaporesso podstick can have your home smelling like your favorite e-juice. But seriously folks, the DTL tank pod for the podstick is no joke.

Instead of having a backup pod device where one has to adapt to an MTL method, the supplied DTL tank pod means you can still get a good drag like a full sized mod from a shirt pocket friendly little device. My only experience from a sub ohm pod is the Innokin EQ that is developed around the MTL method of nicotine vaper delivery. So I do not know if the podstick is the first to do a portable DTL device or not. But this one gives the user a choice of true MTL or true DTL in one unit.

For someone like me the MTL tank pod can also provide a stronger "hit" via a tight flow DTL short drag. For someone like my dual battery mod user brother, the open flow can allow him to fill up his den with cloud very easily.

Now for the 80 watt fan the DTL tank pod may seem lacking. But a whole lot less lacking than the typical pod device. If one does DTL at 30 watts or less it certainly has potential to deliver. I cannot comment on the pros and cons of an airy DTL vaping with big devices versus the podstick. But it is pretty obvious Vaporesso kept those folks in mind when developing the low resistance, open air draw of the DTL tank and some 30 minutes later my taste buds are still happy about the fuji apple/ strawberry/ nectarine flavored vapes I did.

 

[United States]

Mrs States preferred the MTL tank for its tighter draw even though she DTL's. I filled the DTL with her favorite juice. The juice I cited in the previous post is her favorite. We went out to dinner and I had put the DTL tank on it.

I found after a while that I was preferring light DTL drags from the MTL tank over MTL draw.

Now one thing I'd like to see Vaporesso change is the color of the tank to be like their Play. A nice honey color and perhaps a window like their Play has.

A honey color versus the dark.

The window on the Play is great!!

For the MTL type of vaper the 2ml is plenty for a while. But when using the juice guzzling DTL tank a more clear tank with a window would be a virtue.

Maybe an oval cut out on the sides opposite front and rear where both sides would allow light to pass through without affecting anything design-wise.

 

[United States]

Flavor, you ask?
This one has that covered as well. I do not know how they did it but flavoring a series of chain vapes from the MTL tank is spot on. Somehow Vaporesso has designed a quick recovery method while preventing spit back.

My experiences with ceramic coil'd pods (and even cotton wick'd) has been muted flavor by the third or fourth quick drag or spit back in the drag. And heat. By the fifth drag, the podstick still provides good flavor to a spit back-free cool vape.

Mrs. States has indicated the DTL tank is similar with three or four quick pulls in a row and unlike her full sized sub-ohm gear the vape stays nice and cool.

Until these become widely available I have to keep it hidden from Mrs States, otherwise I'd become the non-custodial user. Stores are saying September 22nd is when they are expected. C'mon 9/22……

 

[United States]

His n Hers:
Last evening after returning home from a nice dinner Mrs States and I were relaxing on the couch and watching a movie. A movie about a guy who was after Bigfoot for abducting (and eating) his girlfriend.

We chuckled a bit saying "everybody knows Bigfoot is a vegan". Mrs States asked if she could take a drag from my PodStick. I swapped the DTL tank onto it and handed it to her. She took a couple of drags and handed it back. I swapped the MTL tank onto it and took a couple of drags.

It went like that for a time as we watched that Bigfoot character cause havoc in the woods while the actors did really stupid things like any typical horror movie designed to make the audience say "don't go in there dummy" or "shoot him, shoot him now dummy"

Eventually that movie ended and we started a second one. At one point Mrs States asked if there were any other pod system where a couple like us could share it even though she likes DTL and I like MTL vaping. I told her this to my knowledge was the first to try it.

It was as simple as plucking out one tank and plugging in the other that we were able to both enjoy a tastey vape our favorite style from the same PodStick. It's like being at a restaraunt and being served a pizza, half having my favorite toppings and the other half having her favorite toppings.

 

[United States]

After a week of using the PodStick I can say it is a very good way to vape if you like SMOOOOOOTH. If you require that wee bit of harsh that mimics a throat hit of tobacco smoke it probably won't satisfy some.

Is it the ultimate smoking cessation device? My answer would be "no". But for the seasoned vaper who wants to downsize it's great.

See, the ultra smooth features of the Renova Zero or Vaporesso PodStick cause folks trying to switch to find something is missing. Because there's not that bit of harsh sensation against the back of the throat like a cigarette does. Vaping from the PodStick is not like smoking a cigarette. It's actually more pleasurable than smoking. It's like sipping from a glass of wine versus a sip of whiskey.

One can put in a higher strength nicotine juice in the tank and get that throat hit sensation. For me, I found a juice I really like. A strength I really like. A combination of VG/PG I really like. So vaping that from a Vladdin RE for example gives me a cigarette-like experience, akin to sipping on Jim Beam. But that same juice in a PodStick is like sipping a on glass of Merlot. (or in my case a dry white since my favorite juice is a dry flavoring.)

Yesterday at work I was assembling office furniture. I was torture testing the PodStick too. See, it was in a loose shirt pocket and would fall out each time I bent over. My coworker was puzzled that I kept dropping my vape until I explained I was drop testing it in a real world scenario. Actually the first drop happened because it is so light in weight I forgot it was still in my pocket. After about 25 drops from about 4 feet (1.25m) I set it aside. But each time it fell, it landed on it's side with a splat instead of a thud at one end or the other. So there were no dings at either end. None, and it still works like new.

With approximately 100 drags all five lights are still illuminating and the tank is about half full. I'd say for the casual vaper it's a 3 day supply easily. It also appears with the MTL tank on it the tank will need a refill long before it needs a charge. I cannot speak for the DTL tank, but logic tells me that might be an even-steven since less resistance would use more electricity.

Below the tank is as dry as the Mojave desert. After releasing the fire button I draw a bit longer to clear the chimney of any leftover, so I am not plagued with any spit back at all. As much as I don't like fire buttons, it's definitely a good trade off to not have to wipe the contacts a couple of times a day like an autodraw device requires in my case. Leaving it in a hot car has not resulted in any leaking either. My old Zenith tanks oozed badly in those cases. So did other supposed leak free tanks. (On another subject, my Target II was also leak free in a hot car.)

Overall I would say the PodStick is smooth like a Zero, productive like a Play and vapes like a miniature modular device. Again I'll say, for the seasoned vaper this thing is great for portability while providing an old school vape experience. The ultra smooth experience may be an acquired taste for some. Once they hit stores I will be purchasing a couple of backups.

 

[United States]

Third refill of the MTL tank and it's still yummy, yummy, yummy.

I'm getting down to 1/4 tank with four of five lights remaining each time. I top it up at refill though.
So it appears a charge would ordinarily be needed every third refill, at least for me. I use medium setting.

 

[Vaporesso_Milo]

After a week of using the PodStick I can say it is a very good way to vape if you like SMOOOOOOTH. If you require that wee bit of harsh that mimics a throat hit of tobacco smoke it probably won't satisfy some.

Is it the ultimate smoking cessation device? My answer would be "no". But for the seasoned vaper who wants to downsize it's great.

See, the ultra smooth features of the Renova Zero or Vaporesso PodStick cause folks trying to switch to find something is missing. Because there's not that bit of harsh sensation against the back of the throat like a cigarette does. Vaping from the PodStick is not like smoking a cigarette. It's actually more pleasurable than smoking. It's like sipping from a glass of wine versus a sip of whiskey.

One can put in a higher strength nicotine juice in the tank and get that throat hit sensation. For me, I found a juice I really like. A strength I really like. A combination of VG/PG I really like. So vaping that from a Vladdin RE for example gives me a cigarette-like experience, akin to sipping on Jim Beam. But that same juice in a PodStick is like sipping a on glass of Merlot. (or in my case a dry white since my favorite juice is a dry flavoring.)

Yesterday at work I was assembling office furniture. I was torture testing the PodStick too. See, it was in a loose shirt pocket and would fall out each time I bent over. My coworker was puzzled that I kept dropping my vape until I explained I was drop testing it in a real world scenario. Actually the first drop happened because it is so light in weight I forgot it was still in my pocket. After about 25 drops from about 4 feet (1.25m) I set it aside. But each time it fell, it landed on it's side with a splat instead of a thud at one end or the other. So there were no dings at either end. None, and it still works like new.

With approximately 100 drags all five lights are still illuminating and the tank is about half full. I'd say for the casual vaper it's a 3 day supply easily. It also appears with the MTL tank on it the tank will need a refill long before it needs a charge. I cannot speak for the DTL tank, but logic tells me that might be an even-steven since less resistance would use more electricity.

Below the tank is as dry as the Mojave desert. After releasing the fire button I draw a bit longer to clear the chimney of any leftover, so I am not plagued with any spit back at all. As much as I don't like fire buttons, it's definitely a good trade off to not have to wipe the contacts a couple of times a day like an autodraw device requires in my case. Leaving it in a hot car has not resulted in any leaking either. My old Zenith tanks oozed badly in those cases. So did other supposed leak free tanks. (On another subject, my Target II was also leak free in a hot car.)

Overall I would say the PodStick is smooth like a Zero, productive like a Play and vapes like a miniature modular device. Again I'll say, for the seasoned vaper this thing is great for portability while providing an old school vape experience. The ultra smooth experience may be an acquired taste for some. Once they hit stores I will be purchasing a couple of backups.

Glad to hear all your feedback. Thanks so much for all the detailed information