I don't either, but this is what I know. There are a ton of flashlights with active regulation (not a resistor in other words) in this form factor. Problem is, I don't think you'd gain much in runtime since you only need to regulate it down a small amount. You'd gain something, but not much, certainly not enough to justify the increase (I assume) in price.
Now a side by side 18650 in parallel, actively regulated at say 3.8V might be interesting, but I don't know enough to do the math.
Thanks for your comments, fjames. This kind of thinking is always nice to see. If you aren't already participating in the modders' forum, I'd love to see you add your ideas to that group.
For me, new hardware is first and foremost about getting the benefits of 5v (vs. 3.7v)...specifically, the shorter draw and improved throat hit. The only way I can currently envision improving on the planned Prodigy V1 is if battery life were extended and/or the unit's size reduced.
Apparently, Steve is planning for V2 to be substantially smaller, so it will be interesting to see if he knows of a way to maintain the 5v (based on his comments, I think he does) AND increase battery life (I don't know if this is one of his objectives). He did mention the possibility of including some cool features with the V2. We will have to wait and see what features he has in mind.
From a hardware standpoint, PureSmoker is -- in my humble opinion -- leading the pack in terms of innovation.
Now I am waiting to see if Steve will re-introduce his e-
juice lines, because being a one-stop shop for e-cigarette supplies would give PureSmoker a more pronounced (and profitable) competitive advantage. I am guessing that they may not go this route, because if the U.S. government moves against e-cigarettes, their assault will most likely have to focus on e-juice, since the hardware can be repackaged simply as personal vaporizers with non-nicotine uses. If that scenario unfolds, and the U.S. government chooses to ban the domestic sale of e-juice (as opposed to taking a "regulate and tax" approach), then it will only have destroyed yet another U.S. manufacturing industry (and missed an opportunity to protect consumers by standardizing e-juice purity), because e-juice sourcing will simply shift to a direct-import model. Hardware production is the high-probability bet to survive the advance of hostile legislation, and I think Steve understands this and has repositioned PureSmoker accordingly.
Of course, PureSmoker's fortunes largely depend on the Prodigy V1's rollout being successful. If there turns out to be a flaw in the Prodigy, PureSmoker could be sunk.
By the way, I only say that PureSmoker's fortune *largely* depend on a successful Prodigy V1 rollout, because I think they may have a sleeper hit on their hands with the 6' 20awg USBpass they apparently plan to launch in mid-June (and a 3' 20awg USBpass, if they choose to shift from their current 28awg version).
