Posted on September 13th, 2009 by Jack Stone
A few months back I saw a guy smoking outside of a bar I was at and started talking to him. After a few minutes of chatting I realized he wasn’t smoking a normal cigarette. I asked him about it and he told me it was an electronic cigarette from BluCigs. That’s what made me purchase the BluCigs starter kit and that’s pretty much all I’ve smoked since.
When I first saw the guy smoking I didn’t even realize that he was smoking electronic cigarette, even though I had already tried electronic cigarettes and had been smoking them for almost a year at that point. Nonetheless, I had never seen an electronic cigarette that looks so much like a real cigarette before. I always felt a little weird smoking my electronic cigarettes in public because they were all really big and most of them were all black, so it was quite obvious I was smoking something different. I’m not the type that likes to be the center of attention so that really caused me to slow my smoking down in public just because I got sick of people asking me what I was smoking.
Once I saw this guy smoking outside the bar I realized I had missed a brand in doing my research that obviously looked exactly like a real cigarette.
Ever since BluCigs hit the market the strive to make electronic cigarettes look like real cigarettes seems to be the trend and it appears I’m not alone in my desire to find an electronic cigarette that looks close to a real cigarette as possible. So, after that night I decided to buy the BluCigs starter kit and was impressed at not only the quality of the device but also at how much it looked like a real cigarette. The only difference was that I had a blue light at the tip instead of a red one like a real cigarette would have.
I found the blue light didn’t really matter all that much because everything else about it looks so much like a real cigarette you overlook the fact that there’s a blue light at the end…the weird thing is other people don’t seem to notice either…just like me that night outside the bar. Nonetheless, NJOY makes an electronic cigarette that looks exactly like a real cigarette but has a red light at the end so it’s even closer in appearance to a tobacco cigarette than BluCigs are. Although NJOY’s electronic cigarette has that red light, I tried them and I found that they weren’t quite as good as BluCigs, they were still really good, they just didn’t taste the same, so I stuck with BluCigs.
So I guess the answer to the question of whether or not electronic cigarettes look stupid is a personal one. I think most of the brands available do look stupid, but that’s because they are 6 inches long, twice as thick as a real cigarette and are all black or stainless steel or some other color with a strange design on it. The newer models that I mentioned above however, look so similar to a real cigarette that you can’t even tell the difference.
If you want to check out a great site I found where they review electronic cigarettes, go to http://www.electroniccigaretteweb.com and check out their reviews section. They also have a customer ratings section where people rate their experience with these things so you can see what other people had to say.
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Posted on September 11th, 2009 by Jack Stone
This is part 2 in a 2-part series on what to consider when purchasing electronic cigarettes. In part 1 we covered the price and ease of use considerations, delving into the cost of most electronic cigarette starter kits as well as battery issues and cartridge replacement. In this article, I’m going to cover warranty, durability, cartridge prices, size & color, and accessories.
Warranty
Warranties vary dramatically by brand. Many of the older brands generally offer pretty limited warranties, on the order of a few days to a few weeks. Some of the modern brands, like NJOY and BluCigs offer 1 year warranties and 30-day money-back guarantees, which is really what any person buying electronics should expect.
Durability
Another question to ask is, how long are these things going to last? Well, I’ve never had any troubles with the products I’ve tried, so I can’t speak personally on broken products and whatnot. However, I’ve heard the m402 is a pretty reliable model, and I’ve also heard people have had some issues with NJOY’s products, although those issues seem to have all been taken care of as I haven’t heard any complaints about NJOY recently. Nonetheless, the m402 and NJOY’s stuff are all very high quality electronic cigarettes, so when compared to other models out there, they both offer excellent durability.
Generally, you can’t go wrong with some of the top brands. A good website to check for high quality electronic cigarette brands is ElectronicCigaretteWeb.com. They only review the top brands. I’ve sampled all of those and they are all very durable and reliable.
Occasionally, no matter what brand you go with, you’ll have an atomizer crap out on you or a battery go south. That’s to be expected and you can buy replacement atomizers and batteries for around $5 and $10 respectively, depending on the brand.
Just be wary of buying anything that doesn’t have a good reputation. I won’t buy anything they don’t review on ElectronicCigaretteWeb.com, but I’ve also found good information over at E-Cigartte-Forum.com.
Cartridge Prices
Cartridge prices vary depending on the type of cartridge (manual refill vs prefilled) as well as the brand. BluCigs sells their cartridges prefilled at about $1 each if you buy 25, and about $0.80 each if you buy 100. On the other hand, the m402, a pretty solid manual refill e-cig doesn’t offer cartridges, only manual refill, which is usually a bit cheaper, but you have to be willing to get your hands dirty.
Wherever you go, just browse around the site and see what they have to offer, and keep in mind, they all exaggerate their cartridge life, so check out electronic cigarette reviews to make sure you know what you’re getting.
Size & Color
Size is really a personal preference when it comes to electronic cigarettes, although, I suspect, most people would think smaller is better. I’ve personally stayed away from the large models, simply because there’s no way I’m going to smoke some 6 inch tube in public. Plus, the larger brands tend to be geared more toward people looking to be serious e-cig “vapers” and not just people looking to find a cigarette alternative.
That said, even the small brands vary a bit in size. The m402 is about as thick as a Camel Wide and about as long as a 100. The BluCig is a bit smaller, only slightly thicker and barely longer than a standard cigarette. The NJOY NPRO is about the same size as the m402.
Most companies will have information on the size of their products on their website, and if not, you can always call or shoot them an email and ask; I’ve found most companies to be pretty quick to respond to questions and very helpful.
The color of the different brands varies a bit. More and more companies are realizing smokers want something that looks as close to a tobacco cigarette as possible, so brands like BluCigs and NJOY are offering models with white batteries and tan cartridges to mimic the appearance of a real smoke. Other brands are still offering all black, or stainless steel, or some other combination.
Accessories
Accessories are things like battery chargers, carrying cases, and cartridges included with the starter packs. An absolute must-have accessory for me is a charge-on-the-go carrying case so I can charge my batteries when I’m out without having to plug into an outlet.
I’ve never seen a starter kit without a standard wall charger, but some also include USB chargers, car chargers, and even USB pass-throughs (something that allows you to smoke while plugged into a USB port so you don’t drain the battery). These are all things to consider when purchasing an electronic cigarette starter kit.
Also, some brands come with many more cartridges than others in the starter kit. This isn’t a big thing…you can always buy more cartridges, but it’s a nice addition to get a few extra cartridges with your order.
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