I smoked for almost 40 years to the day, and was between 1.5 and 2 packs per day.
I got an Itaste VV V3.0, a Smok-tech Aro II, and three 5ml vials of e-juice to start and it cost me $82.28 including tax.
A week later I went back and got another Aro II because I wanted to be able to use two different kinds of e-juice without the hassle of cleaning out a tank. (More about this later.)
I originally thought that I'd want something that tasted as much like my regular analog cigarettes, too. But it took less than a day to disabuse me of that notion.
There is also another little gem called "vaper's tongue" that hits occasionally. When it does, you stop tasting your e-juice, no matter what flavor it is.
I found it helps if you have some sort of sweet flavor -- my current two favorites are "Ivory Bliss" (raspberry, white chocolate and almond) and "Strawberry Orange Ice" -- and then one sort of minty or cinnamon-y flavor. When you stop being able to taste one, you can switch and probably will be able to taste the other again.
Which is why I bought the second Aro. Now I don't have to dump out half a tank of e-juice in order to switch out.
I have tried patches, gum, lozenges, and Chantix and never managed to last more than a couple of days. But when I started vaping, I quit smoking entirely. The e-cig gives me the nicotine replacement, the something to do with my hand/mouth, and even lets me exhale a cloud of "smoke." And with the dessert-type flavors, I even have managed to quit without gaining weight. Who needs candies to suck on when you can suck on an e-cig and have it taste like dessert?
I started with 18mg nicotine juice and -- about 3 weeks later -- have dropped down to 12mg. My intention is to steadily keep dropping the nicotine level until I'm vaping 0 nicotine juice, and then (at least start trying to) eventually give up vaping altogether. Although I will admit that if I just get down to 0 nicotine and keep vaping the rest of my life, I won't object.
Another thing is that you need to start drinking a LOT more water. But that's good for you, too.
Good luck!