Recommendations?

[Stymey]

Hi, I've been a member of this forum for some time, but never really posted a lot. Back in the day my first e-cig was a 901 (before all the VV and low resistance atomizers etc.) but I gave up vaping and went back to smoking analogs. Now, I'm ready to give it another shot but there have been quite a few design/technology advances since then. I'd like a couple of recommendations for a new kit. I am currently a 1.5-2 pack a day smoker. The 901 was a great intro but carts dried quickly, and battery life was less than stellar. Vapor was somewhat inconsistent as the battery drained but a USB passthru with a momentary toggle helped out tremendously.

Features I'm looking for (in order of importance)

1.) Battery - I'd like to try a VV battery, but it must last an entire workday for a heavy smoker. It should have a manual button.
2.) Carto/Clearo/Atom - I need a carto that will hold a lot of juice. Dripping/refilling is ok while I'm at home, but a PITA on the go.
I like the idea of being able to see juice level (i.e. clearo) but not married to it. I'm also interested in a dual/tri coil. It will
need to be reasonably easy to refill as I used to enjoy concocting my own liquid and will probably do so again.
3.) Size - It needs to be reasonably portable, but length is not a dealbreaker. The screwdriver was awesome for battery life,
etc. but let's face it; it was pretty large to lug around with you.

Does more heat = better vaping experience? (low res atomizer with 4.8v battery?)

Thanks in advance for helping an (old school?) noob!

 

[Glam]

Hey Stymie.....happy you have come back to vaping. I cannot answer all your questions but will tell you what I know.

For VV mod that is not too bulky, you might want to try the Ego twist...it is getting great reviews. And on the end of that twist, you might want to try a Vivi Nova tank. They are also getting great reviews...no leaks, great flavor, and holds tons of juice, and you can see your juice level.

As far as low resistance carto/atty with 4.8, I cannot answer that. I tried the mods, but found I do not like anything above the regular old 3.7 volt with the low resistance tanks or cartos. My vaping pleasure is not very exotic.

Hope this helps you a little.

Welcome back!

Edited to add: Just doing some reading--Ego Spinner is a new VV which is very easy to operate...just came out in Sept. Looks like it would be a nice mod.

 

[Xaiver]

I'm going to take this the other direction.

Meeting these criteria: Fairly new to the current scene, not too big, good battery life, easy to refil.

Honestly, it sounds like what you need is a couple of eGo batteries and a stash of cartomizers. It's a very basic kit, but it's a good place to start. The eGo batteries aren't gigantic, but they're definitely not the cig look-a-likes. My only major issue with an eGo battery is that their voltage is regulated to 3.2v, which is awesome if you plug in a 1.7ohm carto. Two of the 650mAh eGos should last you all day, or 1 1000mAh should do the same.

VV is good in theory, but I think that it might be something to grow into, not something to jump on immediately. There is a lot of fiddling involved with it, and when you start the switch to vaping, fiddly is just another reason to get frustrated with the process. The eGo twists are great, I own one...but they're significantly longer than the normal eGos, with shorter battery life if you've got it cranked up.

When I started, I invested in a small portable hard drive case that I could fit several cartos, a few batteries and a little bottle of liquid in. That would carry me through a couple days if I got stranded somewhere, somehow.

The reason I suggested cartos is because they're fairly cheap, you can get them for 1-2 dollars apiece, and they should last you about a weekish. If you take three or four of them and fill them all up, you can just rotate around when they get low, toss them when they go bad and start over. Again, back when I was using my eGo with cartos, I found that I could make it through a day with 1-2 650mAh batteries, and 2-3 cartos, and if I'm carrying around a bunch of them, it's no big deal.

Lots of people want to be able to see their liquid level. It's nice, to be sure, but you learn real quick what happens to the flavor when it gets low. I found that when I can see my juice level, I'm constantly looking at it and trying to top it up, instead of just waiting for the low que in the flavor to refill.

Heat is only part of it. If it gets too hot, it gets bad really fast. What you're tasting when you press the button is the watts that are being output by the coil. Watts = Volt x2 / Resistance. Most people find that their preferred vaping is between 7 and 9 watts, get too hot, it gets bad, too cold leaves you wanting. There's a wattage chart around here somewhere, I'm sure it'd be fairly easy to find.

Why am I suggesting the eGo? There are certainly better devices out there. It's not top of the line, or even loaded with special features. Well, it's something that you'd be hard pressed to find an honestly bad review on. So long as you make sure to get a genuine JoyeTech eGo, you'll have trouble making it quit. I've got 2 from over a year ago and they still work just fine. My father in-law has 4ish from atleast that long, and he still uses them all day.

The worst thing you'll read is that they're regulated to 3.2 volts. But wait...that means that they're regulated. From the first draw off a fully charged battery, to the last before it dies, you'll get right around 3.2 volts. (Sorry if I'm rambling, it's 1am)

Final thought: The eGo kits aren't terribly expensive, considering that you'll probably have them and they'll work as a fantastic back-up...forever. They're a good stepping stone, and it's a solid way to learn what's going on. As an added bonus the eGo-T - C models have a 5-click master off switch. Press the button 5 times in 3 seconds and it goes into a sort of sleep mode...no pocket-firing...and the same thing to turn it back on.

Cheers!
-X