Holy Cow! That was quick, it arrived today. I am vaping on it right now with a Siren 2 24mm tank. There is room to spare of course before a tank would overhang the mod.
The build quality seems excellent, with tight tolerances on all the seams in the metal work, the buttons give a quiet click and have a nice tactile response. The battery door closes very solidly and I don't see how it could open accidentally. Giving it an enthusiastic shake test, it is completely silent. Not even a hint of a rattle anywhere. I had read a review that there was a little vertical slack in the carbon / wood side panels. Not on this one. They fit and have no movement at all.
The appearance is better than I expected from pictures. The main reason I ordered the silver body is that gunmetal/tarnish option was said to be a shiny fingerprint magnet. The silver version has what I am guessing is some sort of alloy on the side /rear piece with a satin finish that does not collect your prints. The stainless steel portion that wraps the front / top portion is more a brush finish, and again does not seem to show prints.
The "red" leather is actually not very red, being more of a warm brown which is a good thing to my eyes - a nice rich color. The real matching double stitching lends a crafted touch. It compliments the little "tortoise shell" insert just under the 510 area, and the satin finished wood side panels. The wood panels do have a nice grain which I think looks best on the mod.
The "feel" is comfortable and rests most naturally in my hand with my pinky under the bottom, three fingers wrapping around the sides, and my thumb with the first joint area on the button. The fire button is very slightly proud of the panel, just enough to being easily found by feel alone. All in all it's a quite usable ergonomic design.
It's heavier than my previous mod, but not so much that it's an issue. It's just the difference between the Paranormal having an all metal exterior vs. primarily plastic. That heft and solid feel, the crafted look of the metal, with authentic leather and wood, all combine to seem to say, "Hey, I'm a classy mod!".
So does the Paranormal justify paying a bit more versus some other DNA 75c mod options? Perhaps I was just unlucky with my previous choice, which had a functional defect - one set of battery contacts were not working. You would probably get the same mod and have it work just fine. Nonetheless, for me it is worth it - I love this thing.
It's the first day, but these are my first impressions..
Addendum: I feel I should give a "Atta boy!" to Elemental Vapes. They responded promptly and took my defective mod back for a refund, and shipped the Paranormal out to me very quickly.
