Short reviews of various models. Blu-cig worst of all.

[Hyperballsmcgee]

I'm currently in the stage of vaping and smoking. Haven't made the complete switch over to e-cigs yet. But here are some reviews for those wishing to save an few extra bucks.

GreenSmoke- disposable, 1st e-cig I ever tried. Taste was decent for both menthol and full flavor. Short life, as with most disposables.

21st Cent. Smoker- IMO exactly the same as green smoke.

NJOY king- disposable, only tried menthol. Extremely satisfying flavor, and a good hard throat hit. Battery life, however, was less than a day.

Mistic- phenomenal product for beginners, purchased as a disposable, however you can keep the battery portion and buy a cartomizer pack and charger, which is what I did. Great vapor amount, great taste except for when the cart gets low. At that point it develops a somewhat metallic taste. Not a big deal, as mistic carts lasted me several days, and I went 2-3 weeks on one battery before recharging. Excellent entry level product.

Now for the most hated e-cig on this forum...

Blu-cig disposable- an alright product I give it 6.5/10. The taste is great as well as vapor amount and TH. but it draws you into a trap...

blu-cig starter kit- just purchased today. Very excited about it, sleek design, wonderful concept, convenient size. 10/10 for coolness, BUT, I will be returning this TODAY. The first 3-6 hits taste great, vapor amount could improve, but after those 3-6 hits, the taste was horrible. Started out as a burnt taste. Like over-roasted coffee, burnt toast/popcorn, etc. very much like carbon. But then it gained a terrible chemical taste along with the burnt taste. I literally felt like I was smoking a science lab. I experienced this with all five cartridges in the kit on both batteries. The taste is still in my mouth and throat and it has been at least 8 hours since I used them.
My opinion: DO NOT BUY BLU-CIG.

In closing, my experience with blu-cig has turned me so far off from vaping that I'd like to just go on merrily smoking anilogs that I KNOW will hit the spot, but morally I just can't do that as I, like many quitters, have made promises to family and friends. Anyone got some product suggestions for me? I prefer a lot, and I mean a LOT of vapor production, sadly, this is uncompromisable. I'm also a menthol guy, but I prefer a different menthol like Marlboro Smooth, not glassy, wintry menthol like camel crush.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Hi Hyperballsmcgee and welcome to ECF. GREAT first post
Are you looking for a cig sized PV or a little larger.
Battery Info: 100 mah= 1 hr normal vaping before recharge is needed.

 

[Mariss716]

Oh man, did you seriously try ALL of those cig look-alikes? Sorry...

Thanks for the reviews. And welcome. You will soon be on to much better things here. Get yourself an EGO when you get the money back from the Blu kit, seriously. It's almost 3AM and I am pretty tired. Check out the blog I have linked under my picture, I have written quite a bit about buying a better starter kit.

 

[gazzatron]

Well you've landed at the right place hyperballsmcgee, again great 1st post here and welcome, in my experience all of the 'imitation cigarette' models have been a headache, the best I've found is the Titan tank made by joyetech (a good manufacturer) and sold through totally wicked. From what I see on here most people seem to upgrade to a med size pv, check out the joyetech ego c battery and mini nova tank, my mrs has used this since she switched from a Titan, battery and juice will last her a day with this, here's a pic of hers next to her iPhone 5 to show a size comparison, also has a plinth to tidy it up

Shes had it since July and changed 3 coils since @ £8 pk of 3 so maintenance has been cheap for her, it's a passthrough battery so she can vape while charging, the tank never leaves the battery and its easy to refill, good luck in finding your next PV and welcome to the wonderful world of vaping

 

[Mariss716]

Sounds like dry hits from some bad cartos. Yuck. That's such old technology, OP. You have come to the right place to learn all about the wondrous advances in ecigs. Get an EGO with a better battery life than those little ciggie sized batteries, then a clearo like the Vivi Nova that you can fill with some delicious ejuices of your choosing, not some dry cartridges that the manufacturer forces on you, and that go bad after a few hits. And all this will cost probably no more than a Blu kit anyway, those things are overpriced for what they are. The juice you can get anywhere, have a couple links in my blog like Mt Baker Vapor and Nite Lite Vapor, and the hardware on Got Vapes.com http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mariss716/3840-budgeting-your-first-ecig-purchase.html

 

[meli.]

Hi Hyperballsmcgee and welcome to the forum,

Mistic- phenomenal product for beginners, purchased as a disposable, however you can keep the battery portion and buy a cartomizer pack and charger, which is what I did. Great vapor amount, great taste except for when the cart gets low. At that point it develops a somewhat metallic taste. Not a big deal, as mistic carts lasted me several days, and I went 2-3 weeks on one battery before recharging. Excellent entry level product.

I suspect this is a typo?

You will find juices from All vendors that won't be to your taste, some people rave about how fantastic a juice is, then you try it and can't stop gagging even at the thought of it. Just how it goes. You can't allow one bad juice experience tarnish the good ones you've had. You seem to prefer cig-alike's so why not have a look at smokeless image. Well known and an excellent product, get yourself some blank cartomisers and juice and you're well on your way to happy vaping.

Have a look at the Joyetech eRoll kits as well. Many people love those too, they're super light and easy to use.

 

[Bookworm]

Hi Hyperballsmcgee and welcome to the forum,



I suspect this is a typo?

You will find juices from All vendors that won't be to your taste, some people rave about how fantastic a juice is, then you try it and can't stop gagging even at the thought of it. Just how it goes. You can't allow one bad juice experience tarnish the good ones you've had. You seem to prefer cig-alike's so why not have a look at smokeless image. Well known and an excellent product, get yourself some blank cartomisers and juice and you're well on your way to happy vaping.

Have a look at the Joyetech eRoll kits as well. Many people love those too, they're super light and easy to use.

Might not be a typo. The OP said vaping and smoking at the same time, so I'm guessing it's not a lot of chain vaping. The Mistic was the first ecig I tried. I bought a 7 dollar disposable and it lasted weeks. I was only using it a few times per day though. The cart ran out well before the battery died. In fact, 9 months later I can still get it to light up when I puff on it. I never bought a charger and never charged it, because I quickly bought something else. Again, I barely used it, and I'm sure with heavy use it wouldn't last very long, but I really was surprised by the power in that one little battery. The cartos and flavor were not great, so I am not at all recommending them. But they are surprising.

I would second the ego and the eRoll recommendation. The eRoll if you like the size of cig-a-likes.

 

[Altaire Versailles]

Doesn't sound like you're serious about wanting to quit honestly. Maybe you're just not that sick of smoking yet, everybody has their time. I can tell u though, if you still want to smoke analogs after trying so many e cigs, that theyre not gonna be a persuasive alternative. You could try an ego or something bigger or with a higher nic count cuz disposables usually come at 12ml. Or just keep smoking till u get sick of it then there won't be any debate about it in your mind as to what you want, it'll just be about how you're going to go about it. If you're liking for allot of vapor production its not gonna happen with an e cig u need an ego at the least. E cigs, at least for me, are just something i can vape with in public and not get stared at too much kind of like a vape snack. Also, buy good juice, the carts and juices from the big companies have sucked for me. with good juice its like night and day.

 

[Hyperballsmcgee]

I really appreciate all the feedback. And yes, it's true that I don't want to give up cigarettes yet. I want to give up my woman not enjoying my kisses and smelling like a burnt down farm. I am considering telling my woman that I'm just not ready to drop the habit. I do however wish to smoke less. I am a pack a day guy, on Marlboro Smooth 100's, so I'm accustomed to a unique taste and hit as well as larger smoke production and a longer smoke-session. Hence my complaints about vapor amount and life. Looks like I'll be going with the EGO. Thanks, everyone, for the input. Very glad I found this forum. It's comforting to have other ex smokers understand that sometimes you can't just drop the habit all at once. Lots of respect for this site!

 

[Borednl]

Though you don't seem too keen on e-cigs right now, I'd recommend you make the investment. I smoked for 16 years before switching. Though the long-term effects of e-cigs are "unknown," what I've seen so far through my research suggests e-cigs are a lot safer than paper cigarettes. I'd equate it to eating non-toxic crayons vs eating roofing tar. It may not be ideal to eat crayons, but it's probably a lot safer for you. Personally, I would not have thought I could make the switch to e-cigs, but it was actually pretty easy once I tried what was out there. To be honest, I still smoke a cigarette from time to time, but they taste a lot like ash now, so I don't often. I've smoked 5 cigarettes in the last month.

For you, I'd recommend a kit with low cost and a good, immediate payoff with massive amounts of vapor. Though no combination is guaranteed for success, here's my recommendation. You'll need an e-cig and some juice to start off.
Please note: I am not affiliated with the companies I'm recommending in any way and if you choose to use e-cigs, you do so at your own risk. Also, note that I looked up the prices, but they could change of course.

1 - The E-Cig
I found a good deal at MyFreedomSmokes.com. $14.95 for an eGo starter kit!
It's a 650 mAh unit which comes with the popular "Stardust" tank and a USB charger.
Note: It comes with a USB charger, but not the wall plug, so you'll have to use a USB port somewhere to charge. Perhaps an old USB phone charger, your computer, your wii, anything with a standard USB output.
I recommend this because I really like tanks and this is an awesome deal. I think cartos taste weird at first and I think you'll benefit from the more immediate satisfaction. Plus tanks look boss and are fun to show off.
Tip: Use coupon code "smoke" to get 10% off your order
Pro Tip: If your tank gets a bit of a "burning" taste every few hits, It means the juice is a little thick for your tank and isn't wicking well enough. Put a few drops of vodka or distilled water in the e-juice bottles. It will thin out the juice and voila, problem solved. I use vodka because it has the added benefit of a little more throat hit and requires less to thin out the juice.
Cost (including shipping to Murfreesboro, TN): $19.40

2 - The E-Juice
Though I haven't tried too many e-juice sites yet, I have done some research. Halo comes highly recommended by almost all of the reviewers I've seen. If you order bad tasting juice, it will discourage you. They have a starter pack which comes with variety of flavors, a free tin (nice touch - also useful for protecting the nicotine which is light sensitive) and a free bottle of menthol flavor (it's a special offer right now for orders $20 or higher). I ordered the tobacco pack and am waiting for it in the mail. I'll respond back once I've tried them - If they turn out to be hyped up, I will let you know.
E-Juice included: 52 ml total in 7 different flavors
To compare to Marlboro Smooth 100's: This amount of e-juice in 18mg strength is equivalent to about 42.5 packs in terms of nicotine! This many cigarettes which will also introduce a whopping 12750 mg of tar to your lungs. (see the bottom of this post to see how I calculated this)
Tip: Use coupon code "ECFTEN" to get 10% off your order
Pro Tip: If you decide to get a few accessories, such as a 510 atomizer (to alternate between different flavors easily - see accessories below), vape on menthol flavor to clear your taste pallet between juices.
Cost (including shipping to Murfreesboro, TN): $26.22

Total Cost: $45.62 shipped to your door in 1-4 business days (typically 2-3 within the landlocked states)

If you want some accessories, here's some that I'd recommend from experience:
A few 510 atomizers: $5.95 apiece - will work on an eGo battery - Useful for trying different flavors and are cheap way to vape.
A drip tip or two: Starting at $1.95 - Use on a regular 510 atomizer to direct drip and try different flavors - looks cool too.
510 cartridges: $2.95 for a 5-pack (refillable) - To try different flavors and bring them with you. It might seem ridiculous, but you can use pillow stuffing (polyfill) from a hobby store to replace the cartridge filling. 1 bag of pollyfill covers the cost of about a year of replacements. Or if you want to get fancy, google "blue foam."
eGo CE5 Clearomizer: $4.95 each or $22.95 for a 5 pack - The successor of the StarDust and has replaceable coils/wicks, so is cheaper in the long run. (fits the eGo)
Glowing LED Clearomizer: - $3.95 - Because how cool is that!
eGo Thread Cover: $2.95 - So your e-cig doesn't look gimpy using the 510 atomizers or a Nova tank (if you get more in into e-cigs, you'll probably want to try a nova tank at some point)
Alternative starter kit - the 510: $39.95 - You might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere for around $30, but I don't feel like looking for it right now - A lot of people recommend these to start off with because they are closer to the feel of a regular cigarette, but to me.. The battery life isn't very good and they really aren't as cool to show off as an eGo with a tank on it.


IF you would like some convincing to make the switch:
E-cigarettes are popular with the ladies - No really.
After you smoke an e-cig, you smell good, not terrible.
You can e-smoke with the car windows up.
You will wake up with happy lungs after a night out at the bar.
It makes for interesting conversation at parties.
You might not die of cancer.
You can freak people out by e-smoking inside unlikely places, like a McDonalds.
Most importantly, you'll be cutting edge.



How I calculated the comparison to Marlboro Smooth 100's:
Each cigarette has 15 mg of tar in it and 1.2 mg of nicotine. (I found this on yahoo answers)
So, 1 pack of Marlboro Smooths = about 24mg of nicotine
E-Cig juice generally shows the concentration as mg per ml, dropping the "per ml" part. So you can take the amount and multiply by the total ml of e-liquid to get the total.
18mg * 52ml = 936mg (I'm using the 18mg strength starter pack for comparison)
So if you take the total nicotine in the e-juice and divide by the amount in a pack and you get.. *drumroll*
936 / 24 = ~42.5
What does this mean? Assuming the nicotine absorption is equivalent between vapor and smoke, this equates the e-juice sample pack to about 42 and a half packs of cigarettes!
Put another way, that's about $210 worth of paper smokes if you pay $5 a pack!

Happy vaping!