Hey there ckranz and welcome to ECF..
First congrats on your decision to change your life. You've taken the first step to reducing if not eliminating traditional tobacco and among friends here. Being new and as you know there a tons of products and many things to check into which should be your first step.
You don't want to rush the research phase of your journey too lightly. Many people here will quickly tell you they too made the decision to go with a vaping setup that ultimately did not do them justice, spending countless tens to hundreds of dollars. Many of the smaller form factor e-cigs out there, those that try to emulate the look, feel and size of a regular cigarette, sometimes simply don't work for most people (opinion) however many do have success with them. Consider those as a possible start towards something greater.
You'll have to first define your habit a bit more. Are you a pack a day smoker of Marlboro, Camel or even Roll Your Own or a more casual smoker having a few Lights, Ultra Lights at the club or bar? The next step, once you've defined the level of your habit, is to find a suitable delivery system that works for you. Sometimes this is easy, most times it's hard but have faith, stick with it and you'll find your ultimate setup.
What you need is simple and something I struggled with early on. To put it simply, all you need is a battery, a delivery system and finally ejuice/nic liquid. This sounds easy enough and in reality it is one you understand the various options of those 3 areas of e-cigs.
The battery simply allows for the delivery device to be activated, vaporizing the e juice so you can inhale the vapor. The bigger the battery, the longer it lasts. Batteries are rated as "mah" or "milliamps per hour" and roughly 1 mah = 1 hour so a 650 mah battery would roughly last you 6.5 hours of vaping. This of course is all variable and depends on your vaping style such as chain vaping, draw time, etc. It's a rough gauge but puts it into perspective for you. Also batteries come in 2 styles; fixed voltage and variable voltage (VV). All this means is on a fixed voltage battery you will get the voltage the manufacturer limits it to put out. In most e-cigs fixed voltage batteries are typically 3.2~3.7 volts. Variable voltage batteries have a method that allows you to choose the voltage you want and most typically can go 3.2 in upwards of 4.8 volts and even larger MOD's (modified devices) can go upwards of 5~6 volts. Variable Voltage and some upcoming Variable wattage (won't discuss here) are typically some of the most recommended batteries around simply for the ability to adjust the voltage depending upon application. More volts vaporize a warmer/hotter vape and some e juices either taste good, bad or better at variable voltages so having the ability to do so is a great thing to have.
Next you have the delivery system which is simply a device that you attach the battery that vaporizes the ejuice. These come in a variety of shapes, sizes and form factors. There are cartomizers, clearomizers, direct atomizers and even rebuildable/re-wickable devices that you build yourself after use. Every single delivery system has the same intent and that is to vaporize the e juice for you to inhale. These devices are simply the most important part to a good setup and it will take you some time to find what you like. There are many that are recommended and others that are avoided. The entire culture of e-cigs has been around for roughly 3-5 years and there are constant technological changes and new discoveries on how to vaporize ejuice differently, more effectively and more safely.
Last is the ejuice. This is the simple liquid of typically 3-5 ingredients that you inhale after the delivery system vaporizes it. I won't go into great detail about the ingredients but simply put you have a carrier portion, a nicotine portion and finally a flavoring portion (if you wish). E juice comes in various potencies anywhere from 0mg of nicotine in upwards of 24mg and even higher which is meant for dilution. If your a PAD smoker of heavy/harsh cigarettes you most likely will start in the 18mg to 24mg range but if your that causal smoker I referenced early on you may be more of a 8-12mg kinda vaper. There is a table of roughly what mg strength the various smoking habits gets you and I'll try to find it for you and link it but ultimately this is the vapor you inhale containing the nicotine. You'll have a plethora of flavors to choose from as well different levels of the base carrier for the nicotine. Some ejuice is thicker, some thinner. Some ejuice carries more flavor while others do not. It will be up to you to decide what you like and no two palettes are the same. What's good for me may certainly not be good for you.
So a battery, a delivery system and finally ejuice. That's it and when you break it down it's quite easy except for all of those options your finding for each of the 3 above. The best thing you can do is get your setup straight first which will take some trial and error but if you research and go with what works, for who you are and what your habit is, you'll find it gets easier and easier. I'm only about 2 months in and have found a great setup and keeps me from smoking entirely. You can too.
I too, like Titanium, would recommend an eGo setup. I would recommend 2 eGo Twists (100mah) with 2 Vivi Nova tank/clearomizers and some ejuice in the flavors you like at the mg strength you feel. This is the setup I'm working with now and other than purchasing new ejuice to restock, a bit of cleaning on the clearomizers and more time to research it's worked wonderfully for me.
Sorry this went long but it's so hard sometimes starting and I, as well many here, were in the same situation prior. I hope it helps you and if you ever need anything send me a PM or just post here because you will not, can not find a better place to ask questions and find the info you need!
Cheers,
~Icky
[Edit]
Forgot to add that with any battery you'll need a suitable way of charging it. Most kits and manufacturers have a their own designated battery chargers for their products. So just wanted to say that with the battery portion of your setup you'll need a suitable charger for said battery(ies).
lol
