Liberro Electronic Cigarettes

My Top 5 Electronic Cigarettes

Below you will see personal choice as to the top 5 Electronic Cigarettes. This is a personal decision based on my preferences and the choice of products may differ from other peoples. As I try out different products and mods this list may change over time.

This page was last edited on September 14th 2010

 

1) M402 + PCC (Personal Charging Case)

This is a great little electronic cigarette for everyday general use. Its size lies between a king size and superking tobacco cigarette and also about the same width, maybe just fractionally wider, as a tobacco cigarette. It’s styled to look like a real cigarette which it does well, so if you use it an enclosed public space, expect to get lots of disapproving looks and requests to put out the cigarette. I spend quite a bit of time outdoors, so for me it’s great as no one takes much notice when I use it.

The PCC has room for 4 spare cartridges, 1 fully assembled electronic cigarette and a spare battery, and is roughly the size of a packet of 20 Superkings. The PCC has its own rechargeable battery that can be used to recharge the spare battery on the move, and is capable of recharging a battery up to 5 to 7 times before needing a recharge itself. On the front of the PCC is an LCD screen on the front which shows how much charge is left on the internal battery, so you will know when it needs to be recharged.

There is one downside to the M402 though and that is the nicotine cartridge size. On average I am getting about 40 drags off of a cartridge which is around 3 or 4 tobacco cigarettes, if you consider 1 tobacco cigarette to be equal to 10 - 15 drags. They can be refilled however, but the process is a bit fiddly as they are quite small so you’ll want to fill a few at a time. So far I haven’t found a supplier of empty cartridges so you have to buy prefilled ones and then refill them when empty.

I personally bought the M403 with PCC (direct from china) which is fine for a light to medium smoker, which I consider myself to be, but the short battery life can be a problem at times. I will occasionally find myself in the position of having drained one battery whilst the other is still charging. So I bought a M402 battery, atomiser and charger from Mirage Cigarettes to test, and found it to be far superior to my 403. Their M402 has a smother draw and the batteries, being slightly bigger, last longer. So I’ll be ordering a M402 PCC very soon. One thing to note however is that the Mirage M402 range isn’t compatible with generic M402 batteries and atomisers.

For me the M402 & PCC is the perfect electronic cigarette for use when outdoors. The PCC fits comfortably in the pocket and holds 5 spare cartridges (4 loose and 1 in the assembled electronic cigarette), giving you the equivalent of between 15 & 20 tobacco cigarettes. The M402 electronic cigarette itself fits comfortably in the hand, produces a pretty good throat hit and a pretty good amount of vapour, which should be good enough for most users. The Mirage Classic (M402) just works as it should do straight out of the box, without resorting to adapters or replacing the cartridge filler as you need to do on some other models.

The M402 Electronic Cigarette + PCC can be purchased from Mirage Cigarettes which they have named the Classic Range.

 

2) Tornado with DS901 Atomiser and Cartridge

This choice can as a bit of a shock to me as I didn’t like the Tornado when I first got it. It was too big and heavy for my tastes. When you consider I smoked hand rolled cigarettes for the best part of 20 years the Tornado is huge in comparison, it took me a while to get used to the Nicocig which I thought was huge at 11cm with a 9mm diameter, so the Tornado electronic cigarette at 11.8cm with a 13cm diameter seemed a step to far. Plus on using it I would find it produced a burnt taste to my liquids after about 10-15 drags, so I was constantly toping up the cartridge or direct dripping. I had the same problem with a manual Titan 510 and the reason for this is that both the Tornado and Titan use the same 510 atomiser.

I was reading through a forum one day and came across a post where someone recommended using a DSE901 atomiser on the tornado electronic cigarette by means of a 510-901 adapter sold by Totally Wicked. So I decided to give it a go and now love the Tornado for indoor use.

The shape of the DSE901 cartridge feels more comfortable on the lips than the round cartridges used on the 510 atomiser. Flavours seem to taste better and I no longer get the burning taste after 10-15 drags. Throat hit is slightly weakened by the DSE901 atomiser but, as that isn’t important to me, I personally don’t find it a problem.

It’s great for evenings relaxing in front of the TV, or reading a book, when I tend to use it more like a cigar, which is how I tend to think of it now, with one of my fruity flavoured e-lquids. It’s also great for the pub as its not likely to be mistaken for a cigarette, and you know the battery is going to last the evening.

I now like it so much that I’ve got a mega battery plus the mega cartridges and atomiser on order. I think the Mega Cartridges should be an excellent addition, but think the Mega battery may just be a step to far, but then that’s what I thought about the standard Tornado originally.

The reason that it’s at my number 2 spot and not number 1 is that I still prefer something that looks and feels like a cigarette most of the time, especially when outside, but over time I may find my attitude changes and the Tornado moves to position 1.

 

Totally Wicked / TECC 7.5% Discount Code: 915CD

Liberty Flights 10% Discount Code: VAP10

 

3) Titan 510 - White Automatic Battery + PCC

The Titan 510 is another electronic cigarette that I didn’t like too much when I first got it, but that was due to the use of manual battery in the starter kit. Most people seem to prefer the manual batteries over the automatics but I’m not one of them. For some reason whenever I use the manual batteries I get a burnt taste coming through after 10 - 15 drags, the same problem I had with the standard Tornado. The solution on the Tornado was to use a DSE901 atomiser, on the Titan 510 it was the use of an automatic battery.

It seems as though the atomiser runs hotter with an manual battery, or it could be just the way I use them, and the cartridge can’t supply liquid quick enough unless it is totally saturated with fluid. They work fine if you like direct dripping but I personally prefer to fill and swap cartridges.

When I swapped to an automatic Titan 510 battery however, I found that I could use practically all the liquid in the cartridge before the burnt taste started to come through. On average I get around 50 drags from a cartridge, thats 35-40 more drags than with a manual battery.

The draw on a Titan 510 with an automatic battery is just right for me, it’s not to light that you feel like your smoking thin air and you don’t have to suck it to death as you occasionally find yourself doing on a Super Mini. In fact I found it a pleasure to use, the draw is nice and smooth and the white version looks and reacts enough like a real cigarette to satisfy the mental side of things.

There are a few problems with the automatic batteries though, which is why it has been pushed down to position 3. The main problem is that the automatic batteries are too sensitive and can be activated by vibration and wind, so you wouldn’t want to put a fully assembled Titan 510 and automatic battery in your pocket as you’d probably find it gets a little warm.

Blowing on the LED at the end will activate the battery, so in strong winds or in a car with the windows open you may find it smokes itself. Taping the side of the battery or putting it down on a hard surface is enough to trigger the battery for a second or two. Some people have said loud noise will activate it but I can’t say I’ve noticed that, but if it’s near the speaker of my stereo the vibrations from the speaker can set it off.

Standard Titan 510 batteries also have a short life between charges and accidental battery activation when you aren’t using it only goes to shorten the time between recharges. This is where the Titan 510 PCC comes in, if you use the Titan 510 as a regular cigarette and take 15 or so drags every time you fancy a cigarette and then replace it in the PCC the battery stays charged all day. If you are a heavy smoker though, you may find that the battery doesn’t have enough time to top itself up, and you may be left without a charged battery at some point in the day.

To my mind the PCC could do with a slight redesign to be more like the M402 PCC. If the case was made the size of a pack of 20 king size tobacco cigarettes, there would be enough room for a spare battery and at least one more cartridge. This would allow one battery to be in use while the other one charged. The charging circuitry is better on the Titan PCC though as the battery is automatically checked when you close the lid, on the M402 PCC you have to remember to press the button on the front of the case for 3 seconds or it won’t be charged.

If the PCC were altered and the automatic batteries could be made slightly less sensitive, then the Titan 510 would be my number one choice of electronic cigarette for general use.

 

Totally Wicked / TECC 7.5% Discount Code: 915CD

Liberty Flights 10% Discount Code: VAP10

 

4) The Super Mini or RN4081

This was the 4th electronic cigarette I tried before getting hooked on trying to find my perfect model, which I’m still searching for. The Super is a tough little electronic cigarette which I quite happily drop into my pocket fully assembled without having to worry about the battery being accidentally activated.

Although down at position 4, I still use my Super Mini on a daily basis when walking the dog. It’s filled with Coconut Ice which I find nice and refreshing and doesn’t dry out my throat, which is good when at the coast or in the middle of a field. As I said it’s tough and puts up with abuse and I’ve happily used it in the rain and it’s still going. Parts are easily available and relatively cheap so it’s not going to cost a fortune should a battery or atomiser die.

Battery life on the Super Mini isn’t spectacular and you are going to need at least 2 batteries if it’s your main electronic cigarette as you’ll need to recharge the battery at least once a day if not twice, so you’ll need a spare for when the other is charging. I’d probably recommend having 3 batteries at any one time. Or 1 spare battery and the Titan PCC, as the Super Mini battery will charge quite happily in it.

Vapour production on the Super Mini electronic cigarette is pretty good, and whilst not the best vapour producer, it produces enough to satisfy most users in my opinion. If you like a good throat hit however you’ll probably be disapointed on this score, as you need a fairly high nicotine content to generate a throat hit compared to the Titan 510 atomisers.

To me the Super Mini does the job it’s been designed for, it’s tough, durable and can put up with some abuse, but it dosen’t excel at it. Both the Titan 510 and Tornado produce more vapour and throat hit than my Super Mini. Even my tiny M403 or the M402 produce a better throat hit. But I still use my Super Mini on a daily basis, even if it is only when walking the dog, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

 

Totally Wicked / TECC 7.5% Discount Code: 915CD

 

5) Nicocig Plus

This electronic cigarette will always have a place in my affections as it was the electronic cigarette that I used to get me off of tobacco products. I had tried 2 other models before this, one was a cheap thing off of a market stall and was absolutely awful and I haven’t seen it anywhere since, the other was the Gamucci Nicovap which to me tasted awful and had a battery with an over sensitive cut off switch.

The only reason I’m not using the /likes/Nicocig.php today is because having gotten off of tobacco cigarettes and reduced my nicotine intake to 0mg, I wanted to try some of the different flavoured e-liquids available on sites such as Liberty Flights and Totally Wicked. The trouble is Nicocig only produce cartridges in 1 tobacco flavour or mentol, and you can’t refill their cartridges and believe me I’ve tried. Inside the cartridge is a tube of foam that needs to be soaked in fluid, if you get it to wet you just end up with a mouth full of fluid, if it’s to dry you it doesn’t last long, so it’s a bit of a hit and miss affair.

It’s one of the tougher electronic cigarettes and will put up with a bit of abuse. It came with a cloth pouch to carry it around in but what I tended to do was drop the fully assembled electronic cigarette into my shirt pocket and place the spare battery in the pouch to keep the connection clean.

The batteries lasted fairly well and the 2 supplied with the kit would last me a day. One has a red led while the other had a green led which is more suited for using in enclosed public areas. Replacement batteries are available on their website, so you could always get another red led battery if you preferred them.

If all you want to do is quit smoking then the Nicocig Plus could be the electronic cigarette to help you do it. If on the other hand, you are like many of us who enjoy the process of smoking but want a healthier way to do it, then one of the other models would probably be a better solution.

 

Nicocig 10% Discount Code: RPS2004

 

This page was last edited on September 14th 2010