It's hard to get the hang of the perfect drop size with the VapeMate, so it's easy to flood an atty and make it leak. It just takes a little practice, but it's so easy to drip with the VapeMate that I tend to over it, while I tend to run dry when dripping with a bottle. Otherwise, it's great for dripping. IMHO, you want to get extra bottles, and don't use the tube. Some people have problems, but my guess is it's mostly with the tolerances of the bottles. I haven't had any leakage issues, but there is some dampness on the threads when I remove a bottle, so it's easy to see that any imperfections in the plastic will end up as a leak. Seems to me you can just install a different bottle, and treat them as replaceable. The last problem is the weight of the VapeMate will make most devices top heavy. For example, installed on my ego lanyard, my rig hangs perfectly sideways.
If you use a carto, you want to pick one with enough space so that the VapeMate isn't pushing into the filler. That'll swell & push the filler over the top of the hole instead of letting it drip properly into the carto. That might give you some
juice in your mouth, but it also wets the vapor so the carto doesn't function ideally. Even with the right carto, you can sometimes drip
juice over the hole instead of soaking into the material. Either way that's not quite ideal. But some cartos work great. You might want to tilt to let the juice fall down the side. How well it vapes, depends mostly on the carto. If you like to constantly top off your carto, it's pretty easy with the VapeMate. Finally, I often top off my cartos by dripping, and some thick juices sort of sit on top and have a hard time soaking up. This is worse with the VapeMate, since you can't see what you're doing.
My limited experience with tanks is that the main problem is a bit of mess when filling them. Mine haven't leaked. You also need to pick the right carto. I definitely prefer a tank, but I like the VapeMate enough, both for dripping and with a carto.
Some odds & ends... You can't just replace the juice on a tank, so you'll need a tank for each juice you carry. You can replace the bottle (and put the cap on) to try another juice with the VapeMate. I'd add a point for the VapeMate because it seems safer to carry closed bottles than spare tanks, and the bottles are also cheaper. OTOH, it seems easier to find a portable storage solution for a tank than for a VapeMate because a tank is more or less straight. Then again, you can break either apart--removing the tank or bottle and storing them separately--so this is hard to score. Score some points for tanks because (almost?) all of them are cheaper than the VapeMate. Another point in favor of tanks is they don't require the cost of replacing the bottles, though I dare say the cost of replacement bottles and o-rings is pretty small. Either of them is going to get you some strange looks, but I give the cool factor to the VapeMate because it looks like a mini distillery.
on the other hand, if you dont mind punching/slotting cartos on your own or paying for them already made, then the tank would be better. the tank IS messy at first but once you get the hang of it, it'll be easy enough to do while out and about (just have a napkin handy for cleaning off the carto connection). Also, i'd also base your decision on how you store your device. if you put it in your pocket, the vapemate wouldn't work out because of the bottle being exposed and possible unintended squonking of the bottle. If you are REALLY stuck on attys, i'd suggest a bottom feeder mod as you can pocket it and not worry about unintended bottle squonking.
