The one good thing that I can say about the various "autos" out there is that they make the transition from analogs to vaping very comfortable and easy for starting to vape. The form factor of the device is almost identical to a real cigarette and being automatic "they fire when the user takes a drag", the amount of change from burning to vaping is very painless.
Then many people encounter the shortcomings of these devices. Battery life is not long. The prefilled cartomizers are small and don't last long, and because you've invested in the "ecosystem" you are usually likely to keep buying replacement batteries and carts from them at their relatively high price. Plus, the overall performance, while adequate, doesn't come close to what the "next step" devices are capable of (usually for less money over time).
When someone gets to that point, they start looking at things like eGo kits or the many many "next level" devices out there. The learning slope isn't steep (though the variety and terminology can seem intimidating) especially when you compare one of those entry-level devices to someone else's device that looks like it came out of a sex-toy shop for robots.
The best advice that I can personally offer is if your friends are making recommendations for a particular entry brand, offer to "pitch in" the next time they need to "repopulate" their existing batteries and carts. Then you can cheaply try what they use and recommend, see if vaping appears to be a reasonable and attractive move for you, and in the meantime, browse and get to know the forums and good people here. If you stick with it and want something that has a lower TCO (total cost of ownership) and better performance, you will have picked up tons of knowledge just by chatting with people here and seeing what they like and use themselves.
Welcome and best of luck to you.
