Which Mod should I get?

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elmattias

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Other then the fact you pulled 6 months as the lifetime out of thin air, mods are changing so much these days. In 6 months time we will have the new favorites to pick from.

last time i've checked the provari has been around longer than six months, and most all of them are still in commission and vaping just like they were day 1....if you want brutal honesty, i've had many mods, and most of them are exactly as advertised: either cheap chinese pieces of junk (vmax, zmax, lavatube, etc.) or well made american devices that work masterfully (provari, reo, darwin, etc.) i've had a handful of the chinese made mods, including the lavatube V1, the vector variable volt, and the vmax.

...in all seriousness, NONE of them lived up to the expectations, the Vmax lasting me only a week before the chip fried, the lavatube having the top plastic piece of junk crap break on me within the first month, and the vector tore a seal on the center post on the second day i owned it....

compare to the provari...the thing is legendary, i've had mine for about a month and a half now, and the thing is going strong as ever...every vape is exactly the same as the first, no matter where the battery level is, no matter what day of the week it is....it simply outperforms everything i own....and instead of being made out of cheap copper plated in some expensive looking metal, it's actually solid stainless steel....which you'd be hard pressed to say about the acrylimax, or hell, for that matter, even the zmax or vmax.
 

elmattias

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with a Variable wattage mod such as the zmax, you set the wattage to what tastes and feels great and dont mess with it again. With a variable voltage mod, you are constantly adjusting according to atomizer resistances (ohm). Keep that in mind :D

you aren't constantly adjusting, generally speaking everyone finds a juice delivery system they prefer over others...when this happens, you generally lock your voltage in.....variable wattage is nothing but an easy button....but even with zmax VW, it's so inaccurate it's unreal.....if you set it to 4 watts and it actually comes off at 8 watts....what's the point? none of them actually perform as advertised unless you get the v2, which comes at almost twice the price of the mod that the guy is actually looking at....

now mark, on to the gripper...it is a nice mod, from my understanding even though it doesn't appear so, it is fairly pocket friendly...it is tough plastic with a rubberized finish...and vapor beast is an AMAZING website to order from, as the owner, tim, is a MASTER of customer service, also, the kit i believe comes with a handful of cartos, a couple of tanks, and a few batteries+a charger....if you're still doubting, send an email to vaporbeast, i can almost guarantee tim will email you within 24 hours willing to answer any questions you might have.
 

StereoDreamer

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Other then the fact you pulled 6 months as the lifetime out of thin air, mods are changing so much these days. In 6 months time we will have the new favorites to pick from.

Agreed. And how many Provari owners are frugal enough, or satify-able enough to just buy ONE Provari and be done with it for the rest of their lives, anyway? I mean, I can't count the number of "Vape Stations" I've seen on here that have Provaris (PLURAL) and half a dozen other mods, and are ever-increasing like a warren of rabbits.

Anyone with $150 to drop on an E-cig is probably in the same class of consumers that buy whatever is on the Stereophile Recommended List when they need an upgrade in their stereo--buy the "best", hold onto it until the "Next Best Thing" comes out, sell your old "Best" to a newb, and drop another 3 figures for the most recent piece of status jewelry...
 

DizGrizz

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Yeah, the Phiniacs are nice! You'd be hard-pressed to find a juice that will damage Pyrex glass :)

As for the Mods, some good points have already been made about the longevity of some of the less expensive VV/VW mods. Here's my 2 cents:
Mods over eGo and smaller. Longer battery life and more current capacity...especially with low-res atty's.
Variable Voltage (VV) over single-voltage. A completely different world! The VV allows you to dial in the power you push to the atty and that almost always means a superior vape for any atty. There really is no comparison.
Variable Wattage (VW) over VV. Great idea because the resistance of an atty reduces as it heats up and the constant-wattage will reduce the voltage slightly for you to reduce thermal runaway and juice burning. Also, as many have said elsewhere, it makes it less likely that you will fry an atty if you forget to turn it down. That said, it's not impossible...crank it up to 12 watts for a dual-coil carto, swap out with an older 306 atty without lowering the watts and you may well see a flame-out.
Provari (and a few other high-quality mods) over the lesser stuff. Like several have said, they are worth it if you can put the money into it. The provari is built like a Sherman tank and will likely last for many many years. The Chinese stuff may last 3 months or may last a couple years...depending on how much you use/abuse it and how lucky you are. Another point to remember is that the quality of the output can vary quit a bit with the cheaper Mods. The variable wattage mode on the Z-Max, for instance, as almattias pointed out, is completely useless because it does not do what it is supposed to do...set to the same wattage setting, it will dramatically change it's output wattage based on the resistance of the atty...and that's supposed to be the point!
If you don't have the funds for a Provari or like-quality device, "reasonable" Chinese VV units can be had for as little as $70 for a complete kit with PV, batts, charger, and some cartos (ie the Vector from vaporbeast). Another thing to consider is the current capacity of the Mod. Many of the Chinese units are limited to 2 amps and some (but not all) of those that claim higher are lying.
 

Baditude

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For my money, the reason I went the direction of an APV, or mod, was for durability, longer battery life between charges, replacable batteries, longer battery lifetime, cheaper batteries, and the ability to carry larger capacities of juice.

For all intents and purposes, an eGo battery must ultimately be considered a disposable device. Their construction is nowhere near what a mod's is. They are only rated for approximately 250 charges, after that performance will may decrease drastically. Then the whole unit must be replaced.

A mod is built to be durable, to take a beating, to last years instead of months. Made of heavy aluminum or steel tubes, they are essentially tough battery holders that have a firing switch and a positive connector for attachments.

The batteries used in mods will hold a charge between 9 hours to 1-2 days, depending upon the size of the battery. These batteries typically cost less than $10, and should last up to a year. Much easier to carry an extra battery the size of a AA (14500) or a skinny D size (18650) battery than multiple eGo's for the same period of time, IMHO.

Mods are capable of carrying cartomizer tanks with capacities of up to 8ml of juice.
_________________

The Phiniac pyrex tanks are among the best tanks available. I have one of their custom color-sandblasted tubes matched to the endcaps of a Bella Ellegance tank from Hoosier Vapes. http://phiniac.com/ But starting at around $46 for a plain naked tank, that is a steep price for some.

Bella_Phin_1.jpg

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A relatively new vendor has been offering inexpensive, quality pyrex tanks starting at around $20. http://www.ibtanked.com/ I have 5 of these and highly recommend them.

OCD-2.jpg
 
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elmattias

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Agreed. And how many Provari owners are frugal enough, or satify-able enough to just buy ONE Provari and be done with it for the rest of their lives, anyway? I mean, I can't count the number of "Vape Stations" I've seen on here that have Provaris (PLURAL) and half a dozen other mods, and are ever-increasing like a warren of rabbits.

Anyone with $150 to drop on an E-cig is probably in the same class of consumers that buy whatever is on the Stereophile Recommended List when they need an upgrade in their stereo--buy the "best", hold onto it until the "Next Best Thing" comes out, sell your old "Best" to a newb, and drop another 3 figures for the most recent piece of status jewelry...

considering i have saved almost 300 bucks a month by quitting smoking, i have more than enough to buy a provari and 100 bucks of juice plus have cash left over EVERY MONTH, i don't consider myself having wasted money on it, as far as "status jewelry" i think you'd be thinking of the GG product line there....and while i do own a penelope, i own that because it flat out works better than any other atomizer i have...i never once recommended the provari except for the fact that if he was going to drop as much cash as a zmax, which, by the way is also a 3-figure device (especially if you want it to work worth a damn), note that it was i who also suggested the gripper to the guy, so flame me all you want for owning a provari, but don't do it because you're jealous, and don't do it because you think i'm some sort of elitist marching in here to boast about it, i'm here to help the new members, much like all of you are.
 
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Pappy

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Agreed. And how many Provari owners are frugal enough, or satify-able enough to just buy ONE Provari and be done with it for the rest of their lives, anyway? I mean, I can't count the number of "Vape Stations" I've seen on here that have Provaris (PLURAL) and half a dozen other mods, and are ever-increasing like a warren of rabbits.

Anyone with $150 to drop on an E-cig is probably in the same class of consumers that buy whatever is on the Stereophile Recommended List when they need an upgrade in their stereo--buy the "best", hold onto it until the "Next Best Thing" comes out, sell your old "Best" to a newb, and drop another 3 figures for the most recent piece of status jewelry...

So your big complaint against the Provari is that people who buy them like them so much that they want to buy another one? :confused:

I think that goes in the "pro" column, not the "con" column.
 

gimmieshelter31

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If you are a vaper that likes all their juices at a certain wattage then VW is fine. I find different flavors have nuances that get lost at too high or too low a wattage . This leaves you constantly changing the wattage according to juice flavor and pg/vg ratio.So where is the advantage to VW now? See, there is room for all here.

I think the "how long is your dong" responses about zmax (VW)vs provari (VV) do little to help someone make an informed decision. Some like VV. Some prefer VW . Both have their fans. The op stated they didn't want to spend a lot. The first question from anyone should have been ....."What is a lot to you?" . So I'll ask Mark83uk, What is a lot to you?

VW is hard to find done right. Try getting a Darwin. Soon VW devices will be out that rival the quality of the ProVari. Will it come from Smoketech? Maybe. Maybe not . They do have a history of using their consumers as beta testers. That is a fact. The consumer buys the product. The consumer finds the flaws. A few months later Version 2 new and improved comes out to waves of excitement. The consumer buys the product . The consumer finds the flaws. A few months later Version 3 new and improved comes out. Rinse . Repeat.

My point is that VW isn't really superior,just a bit simpler for those that don't want to figure volts squared divided by resistance equals wattage.

I would also like to point out that just because new devices will be out and we all may have new favorites doesn't suddenly make the devices we have now obsolete.
 

DizGrizz

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Yes, I have seen plenty of pics from "mod horders :)" myself but I have noticed very little of the cheap Chinese stuff in these pics. Seems those who spend a great deal of money on their mod collections tend to discover that the US-made stuff is just plain better...and it's those that they put in their "My babies" pics.
 

Plumes.91

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wait am I spreading misinformation? I was under the impression that a variable wattage device will change the voltage higher or lower once you set the wattage. So if you set the wattage to wherever for a 3ohm carto, and you slap a 1.5 ohm carto on it, it will lower the volts.. Is this true or have I been spreading misinfo? I need to know otherwise I've been giving the WRONG information. Not good. Someone help?
 
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