Newbie kit confusion

[raid2506]

I know there are many threads giving advice to new vapers but I see a pattern emerging.


A new vaper says hello and asks what kit to use.
In most instances a dozen or so members welcome them and chip in with quality advice.
Several days later said newbie is still wandering around in a maze of new terminology and dazzled by the shiny.
It seems to me that a fair percentage of new vapers just want to be told which direction to head in.


So..... would it be possible to put any brand/vendor loyalty aside and vote based on budget and/or newbie usability?
I'm guessing we could put all the most oft recommended batteries, mods, kits and bits into separate lists and vote for our best newbie buy, any that get no votes get knocked out.
Keep going until we are down to a couple of choices in each category.

I know that a simple 'top picks' list would have saved me a fair amount of confusion and cash in the early days/weeks.

(I would offer to do this myself but I'm crap at commitment, ask my divorce lawyer )

[Karma]

I hear what you're saying raid2506 but each newbie has there own circumstances and budget.

Also regarding Vendor Loyalty, it's not necessarily loyalty but experience that we know which vendors are good at supporting and helping new vapers and who fix any problems quickly.

[chykensa]

Great idea raid2506 - I must admit I'm as confused as anyone over the plethora of advice being honestly offered to our new forum members.
We need to offer one cig-a-like kit, one eGo type kit and one Mini Protank type kit just so that beginners to the noble art can head off in the right direction confident in the knowledge that the kit they are buying is the best value for money and will do what they want it to do.
I agree with Raid that brand loyalty and personal preference should be cast aside.
Perhaps a sticky that we can refer all newbies to would make the most sense. If they have more questions of course we'll all help as much as we can, but a simple 3-tier choice to begin with would make good sense, and would also make us seem more 'professional' in our initial advice.

[Roscopecotrain]

Aug 12, 2013 9:28:47 GMT chykensa said:

Great idea raid2506 - I must admit I'm as confused as anyone over the plethora of advice being honestly offered to our new forum members.
We need to offer one cig-a-like kit, one eGo type kit and one Mini Protank type kit just so that beginners to the noble art can head off in the right direction confident in the knowledge that the kit they are buying is the best value for money and will do what they want it to do.
I agree with Raid that brand loyalty and personal preference should be cast aside.
Perhaps a sticky that we can refer all newbies to would make the most sense. If they have more questions of course we'll all help as much as we can, but a simple 3-tier choice to begin with would make good sense, and would also make us seem more 'professional' in our initial advice.

I can see your point here andy and raid but as karma says budget is a big factor. If a newbie came on with a small budget i would always send them vapland where as if they had a big budget then i would send them to ukecigcabin for either a evod kit or sadies spinner kit. Therefore already there is three options just for an ego style kit.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[chykensa]

Point taken Roscopecotrain - perhaps we can offer a few more options, but consider reviewing the sticky once a month as new kit comes onto the market.
It could even be broken down into budget categories, i.e. cig-a-like cheap/mid-price/top end etc, and the same with eGo and Protank-type setups.
The trouble is, if we make this choice too big, we don't achieve what we want to, e.g. give the newbie a small but top class choice to start with.
Might take some discussion (!!) but I'm sure with the wealth of experience here we could nail this within the day!

[Roscopecotrain]

Aug 12, 2013 9:38:22 GMT chykensa said:

Point taken Roscopecotrain - perhaps we can offer a few more options, but consider reviewing the sticky once a month as new kit comes onto the market.
It could even be broken down into budget categories, i.e. cig-a-like cheap/mid-price/top end etc, and the same with eGo and Protank-type setups.
The trouble is, if we make this choice too big, we don't achieve what we want to, e.g. give the newbie a small but top class choice to start with.
Might take some discussion (!!) but I'm sure with the wealth of experience here we could nail this within the day!

Dont get me wrong andy i totally agree with you here that a list would be great for a newbie. My concern is that there is so much choice out there now and in so many different price ranges that it would be too difficult to get a list together and we would end up with a list as big as the ideas we already put in new peoples threads.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[chykensa]

Even so, wouldn't a single list, laid out logically, be more helpful than a whole bunch of threads to plough through? I'm sure we could all agree on 12 kits which we have used - OK, it may not be inclusive, but it would at least be a good starting point?
Even now I come across vendors in links which I haven't encountered, so I know only too well how confusing it is. Terminology is another thing (I know there is already a good thread covering this) - perhaps this needs to be signposted more?
In actual fact, as I type this, the more I think that perhaps we ought to have a Beginners section populated with gear, juice, abbreviations, etc. which we can direct all newbies to which would cut out the initial "I want to start vaping - what should I buy?" questions. If people have other queries or require confirmation or reassurance, then they can be encouraged to ask away.
Just a thought . . . *reaches for coat*

[fred]

An easy answer to this could be as simple as get a blister pack from paradise vape (cheapest I know of) for about the same price or less than (depending on brand) a cig-a-like.

As I posted on a thread last night, the form factor of the ego battery in this pack is only marginally larger than a cig-a-like battery, & it has everything except juice to get you away.

Use this kit while you mull over the rest of the excellent infomation.

Personally, having recently tried one, I'll not be recommending cig-a-like in the slightest.

I know there are now evod & protank kits, etc. but my recommendation would be the same as was given to me 4 1/2 months ago - a Riva 1100 kit from vape escape. Everything you need, plus you get to try cartos & clearos, & costs less than a weeks worth of stinkies.
Personally, I hated the cartos, but now I've started vaping aniseed, they're invaluable until my protank arrives

[Karma]

A difficult thing to keep up to date with what is a quickly changing market!

I think part of the problem is members not reading the circumstances of the poster first. If a new vaper wants a cig-a-like I don't see the point of talking about VV. Much better to find them a half decent 510 cig-a-like and link to a reasonably priced Ego/Riva kit and explain briefly the advantages of the bigger battery.

I also don't agree with linking new vapers to Chinese sites as there will be no back up if they are sent faulty goods.

[raid2506]

Good points folks.

How about a budget cap to start with, say somewhere around £30-£45?

Surely anybody who can afford to chance more than a weeks smoking money can afford to make their own mistakes?

I go to many different vendors depending on what I want and when I want it, but I already know which vendors to use. My point about vendor loyalty was because I see newbie threads with advice to buy from FT for example. As a newbie I would have brushed that off because I needed to make the move to vaping that same day and couldn't wait 2 weeks. Now I have spares and backups and a lake of juice and can afford to save money.

[Karma]

Surely anybody who can afford to chance more than a weeks smoking money can afford to make their own mistakes?

one would think so raid2506 but new vapers don't always think like that. I think it's because they still don't know that e-cigs will work for them so don't want to blow their ciggie money for the week.

A friend of mine was shocked that cartos were considered a disposable item, the cost put her off vaping ???

[Roscopecotrain]

Aug 12, 2013 9:59:11 GMT Karma said:

Surely anybody who can afford to chance more than a weeks smoking money can afford to make their own mistakes?

one would think so raid2506 but new vapers don't always think like that. I think it's because they still don't know that e-cigs will work for them so don't want to blow their ciggie money for the week.

A friend of mine was shocked that cartos were considered a disposable item, the cost put her off vaping ???

I agree. When my smoker friends ask how much my gear costs i get the looks and remarks but then when i say over the last month and a half ive only spent £20 rather than the £250 or so they have spent they then get interested.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[Roscopecotrain]

Most smokers dont view the cost as a weekly or monthly thing. It is just the cost of a packet so when you say a kit plus liquid is going to cost them say £30 to there door they dont see that as there ciggy money for the week they see it as wow thats a lot compared to a packet of ciggys.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[raid2506]

Aug 12, 2013 9:59:11 GMT Karma said:

Surely anybody who can afford to chance more than a weeks smoking money can afford to make their own mistakes?

one would think so raid2506 but new vapers don't always think like that. I think it's because they still don't know that e-cigs will work for them so don't want to blow their ciggie money for the week.

A friend of mine was shocked that cartos were considered a disposable item, the cost put her off vaping ???

1 disposable item, £1, lasts a week at least(ok add in some juice at £1.50) call it £2.

20 disposable items, £7, lasts a day.

You are right Karma the numbers don't add up

[Deleted]

I think pointers for first steps should be simple to use & working cheap to get folk started. Also, UK based, so that there is no waiting & if needed, vendor help to hand. If someone is gadget minded, they will naturally progress, if not, they have easy to use kit that they can add to, that we all know works, as it has for us.