I had some of the same concerns you did when converting over to electronic cigarettes. I have found that using the Joye 510 with cartomizers and Johnson Creek's Red Oak line of Liquid has provided me with a sensation very similiar to smoking.
I have seen many "mods" (box mods, giant sticks, and all other matter of wierd contraptions) that can produce enough vapor to fill a concert hall, but the size and shape was no where close to a cigarette so I knew my body and mind wasnt going to fall for it.
I tried a locally bought e-cigarette (cant remeber the brand) that didnt produce much vapor or throat hit and locally purchased liquid that tasted like mop and glow. I started doing some research and found that often times the liquids from asia have almost no oversite on thier ingredients. While doing the research I also found out about a company called "Blu-cigs" who used the johnson creek smoke juice in their cartridges.
The blu-cigs were kind of neat beacuse they came in a rather nifty set-up with a charger that resebled a cigarette pack and a lot of hype on line. Well I had nothing but trouble with the shipping from blu-cigs and found that the vapor production was lacking. Also since the batteries were automatic they would often times activate in my pocket or in the cubby on my truck as the batteries thought the rattling of the box on plastic was me trying to inhale, thus when ever I wasnt at home sitting on the couch the blu-cigs often times werent working and I would get frustrated and just go buy a pack of marb. lights. I am not saying the product is a bad product but my experience with it was not great.
Finally I found the Joye 510 (also has a charger which looks like a pack of cigarettes) and I havent looked back. From the first time I took a hit of my joye I have been sorry for wasting my time with anything else.
Last night I tried using cartomizers on my Joye for the first time and I feel now that I have a set up that replicates an anolog cigarette very closely. The cartomizers are a little bit shorter than the attomizer and cartidge set up bringing the overall length closer to that of a regular cigarette as well.
The first time I put on the cartomizer on a new battery and began to take some hits I almost instantly got a nictotine high like I was a little kid smoking a cigarette for the first time. I dont have enough info yet to know whether the cartomizer set up will cost me more or less money in the long run but right now I kind of feel like I dont care.
I am not sure if you have allready decided on your set up but that is my 2 cents from someone like you who isnt really a veteran and hasnt gotten into all the box mods yet. Like you I wanted something that looked and felt like a ciagrette, would work outside, was durable, and had the ablilty to fool my body and brain into thinking I was smoking a good ole' fashioned cigarette.
Chris