by fiercemoose on December 7th, 2010

There are so many types of e-cigs out there and so little usable information about each one that it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where to start with these things. Hopefully this can serve as a suggestion to those who are trying to figure out where to start, since I had to go through a lot of trial and error to find what I think is the perfect e-cig.

Joye eGo Genuine Joye eGo’s are ready to ship USPS Priority Mail in the USA from www.thevaporpro.com

The main reason I decided to post this is that I have several friends who wanted to try e-cigs out (either because it was awesome or because they wanted to quit smoking) and literally every single one of them ended up purchasing a different model, and only one of them was entirely satisfied. It just so happens that the one friend who loves his e-cig is the one that bought what I recommended. I thought “there should be some sort of straight-forward, no agenda page on the internet that talks about this” but there isn’t. At least if there is, it is buried in a pile of intercrap and nobody can find it.

I personally went through several hundred dollars of hard earned cash learning the hard way that if you just get a good quality e-cig right from the start, it will actually end up saving you money in the end and promote a happier vape. Many people are turned off after a bad experience using a bad e-cig and go right back to smoking analogues.

So here’s the deal… everyone’s tastes are different and we all have a different reason for trying e-cigs and all that jazz… but the reality is that you want an e-cig that will last a long time and produce a bunch of vapor without having to mess with it too much. That’s what you want. If you care about it looking like a real cigarette and feeling like a real cigarette (like I did) my only hope for you is that you heed my advice and at least hear me out. This post is from someone who was in your shoes not too long ago and actually cares that you enjoy vaping.

First of all, if you buy an e-cig that looks like a real cigarette you WILL be disappointed.

Now don’t leave just yet after reading that. It’s actually true. Let me explain… The smaller e-cigs (m401, Blu, vapure, and even the 510) can be decent options, but you will get tired of two prominent things about them: their battery life and their vapor production. While they are small and look fairly “realistic”, you will be charging your e-cig battery every 2 hours even if you aren’t using it all that much. On days where I vaped my 401 heavily, it wouldn’t even last an hour per charge. At first you don’t mind because you figure “Well shoot, my starter kit came with two batteries, so I can charge one while the other is being used”. The problem with this is that you aren’t always near a power outlet. What if you want to go out and have drinks with friends? You will look like a rockstar with your e-cig for about an hour and a half, but then you’ll be bumming analogues off of them the rest of the night. Now you just look like a retard, and everything you preached about switching to the healthier choice has no cred.

Another issue with battery life is the more you recharge, the faster your e-cig battery will come to an end. Most batteries can take up to around 350 or so charges before they need to be replaced. If you have something that lasts longer per charge, the batteries life will last exponentially longer as well.

In my opinion, the lack of vapor production with these “mini” e-cigs is the biggest drawback. I’m the kind of person that wants to take a massive rip off my e-cig and have to wave the vapor out of the way to see what’s in front of me. You are not going to get that on any level with a mini. They just don’t have the power to perform that well. Period.

You want to buy an e-cig model with accessories that are easy to find online.

This is another area that is extremely easy to overlook at first, especially if you are anything like me and tend to be a bit impulsive. If you plan on sticking with it for any length of time, you will eventually find yourself looking for different types of upgrades such as drip tips, cartomizers, low-resistance atomizers, etc and if you choose a product that is less common the accessories will be harder to find and when you do find them they will be finicky at best. A good example of this is my 401 that i had for the first few months of vaping. I wanted to get a USB passthrough for it (so that I didn’t have to charge it as often) and had to pay $30 for the part along with $7-$8 for shipping. It worked REALLY well for about a month, then ended up breaking entirely… and its not like I stepped on it. It was just made like crap, that’s all. So all in all, $40 down the drain and another lesson learned.

Also, when it comes time to replace parts for your e-cig (they do wear out eventually) you will have a fun and enjoyable time shopping for all the amazing options with a more common model.

Make sure your e-cig is easy to maintain, easy to refill, and just plain easy to enjoy.

It doesn’t matter if the model you chose looks amazing and produces more vapor than a steam engine, if it’s hard to maintain or refill.( Think about smoking analogues, all you do is light the stupid thing on fire and you are good to go, thats hard to compete with). There will come a time when you get sick of struggling with basic tasks like refilling or cleaning if it takes all night. What happens then? You’ll stop using it and go back to analogues, or spend more money on a model that you should have bought originally. This is actually a huge factor for me now that I’ve been vaping for as long as I have. I want something easy.

Ok, enough with the advice, what’s your recommendation?

I wanted to explain the things that led me to eventually stick with my e-cig of choice, the Joye eGo. This thing does it all, and the price is an exceptional value, in my opinion. here are a couple reasons I view the eGo as the “perfect” e-cig:

• Long battery life – One fully charged battery lasts me from 8am until 6pm under normal usage. No joke. If I chain vape all day, it will still last me at least 6 hours, solid. • It’s not as big as the pictures make it look – In fact, this thing is pretty small for how much of a punch it packs.

• Vapor production is amazing – You will get more vapor out of the eGo than just about anything else on the market, unless you’re looking at a $200 custom mod that looks like you’re sucking on a screwdriver.

• It uses 510 accessories – The 510 is one of the most common and well-respected e-cigs on the market and there is a reason. It rocks.

• Easy to maintain/refill – Even with my refillable cartomizers that I love so much it’s easy as pie to refill this thing with juice. Also, since the battery is sealed juice can’t leak into it and damage it. You just wipe it down and it’s like new.

• Price and guarantee – You can pick up one of these for around $60.

• Fast charge- This thing charges in about 2 hours, which is amazing considering how long it vapes for.

So there you have it. The ultimate e-cig for starters with no agenda. If you nut up and buy and eGo right out the gate, I have to warn you… you might get spoiled and expect the same performance out of other models and VERY few of them can deliver anything close to this thing. Do yourself a favor and skip the trial and error and pick one of these bad boys up right now.