Everyone: I just wanted some logical responses. That's it. I stated that I was puzzled, and why... and I just have been seeing so many "you gotta try it to know" responses that it's about driven me mad. I wanted to know if the ProVari was worth getting, but I couldn't justify such a purchase with just "you gotta try it to know." The responses I pointed out were EXACTLY what I was looking for. I'm a techie kind of girl... people like me spontaneously combust if we try to convince ourselves to buy some electronic device just because everyone else likes it.
Yes, the Vape-Pro is American made. I don't know if all the internal parts are American as well or not, but I suspect you are right in saying that the pvc board is likely foreign. Honestly, I can't seem to figure out how to get the thing apart... it's like one solid piece of metal. There is what I suspect to be a seam, but it is SO tightly jointed I'm afraid I'll permanently damage the device by attempting to get it open. There's not even an end cap like there is on most APVs of this style. I figure one day it will break down, and I'll have my golden opportunity to tear it to bits. Until then, I'm a little too fond of it to break it for the sake of exploration. That being said, I personally have noticed how well a device vapes until the end seems to depend more on the quality of battery being used than anything else (although I'm sure parts factor in at some point, my experience is limited to $100+ devices, although not $200+ devices, ex. I haven't even gone near a Vamo, so there is some amount of quality here and I simply have not even bothered with anything very much below that price point). I've also noticed a big difference between RMS and MEAN modes.
P.S. There are several different styles to the Vape-Pro, only one of them is the silver chrome look. The other two are black chrome and brushed aluminum, neither of which are very shiny. Not happy with the one I picked though, which was black chrome... little did I realize my handling would eventually turn it to silver chrome instead, LOL. Personally, I like the look. I admit I wasn't crazy about the way it looked in pictures, but the pictures really don't do the design much justice. They especially don't reflect how heavy and solid it is. I've dropped it at least a million times more than my last device thanks to the weight before the idea struck me to start using a lanyard, and it still vapes like the day I got it, with no cosmetic damage besides scratches to the black chrome finish. There isn't even any chance of the connector being damaged from falls thanks to the solid "one piece" styled design that keeps the connector well protected by the heavy duty metal body itself. The button is having some random intermittent issues now, which is my one regret about the design... I can't figure out a way to remove it or get down in to the sides to clean for debris. Anyhow, I'm going to do some more research and see if I can't dig up some idea of where the internal components are made.
Still not sure about the ProVari and whether or not I'll be purchasing it, but at least I know some good logical points about it now if someone asks in the forums and all I'm seeing are "just try it" or "just buy it" types of responses. I'm not very happy at all about the lack of VW on it... maybe they'll update it to include this if I just wait around a little. Also not really happy about the display. I can actually make sense out of the three character limit on the Vape-Pro but the two character limit on the ProVari seems a bit *too* limiting. Don't hate on me because of this... I have poor short term memory, so it's kind of an important point for me to be able to make sense of the display instead of waiting for everything to sink in to my long term memory.
Either way, it's something I'm going to check out eventually due to the claims of being a better vape than anything else.
FYI, the Vape-Pro warns you of a dying battery before it starts to actually give less power by not only flashing a display but halting vaping altogether. You just have to make sure you're using quality batteries, as the one time I attempted to use cheap batteries it did exactly what you described.
I did actually check out the ZMax as a possibility before I bought the Vape-Pro and compared the two. The ZMax seemed to be the inferior one in terms of features and also I generally don't like buying ANYTHING from China unless backed by some kind of USA based warranty, plus the Vape-Pro had more convincing reviews, so I went with the Vape-Pro. And no, not everything on TW is USA made. TW has stated though that the company is trying to go all USA/UK made on their products. I think it is a commendable goal, personally.
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