FWIW, I got my son an iStick iLeaf i30W iSomething. Given its popularity, I was surprised that vs. the Defender the iStick i30W is the one that's a bit tinny, rattly on the buttons, and its offset connector makes it look kinda silly with the new serious and massive atomizers. For the money, around $30, it's a good deal, probably the best deal at the moment. And it works as well as any. The output is flat DC once you put a load on it.
IMHO it's a bad time to be buying these 20-30 watters as the next wave of cool and well-priced 50s is right around the corner, like that SMOK 50/65 W unit w Blue-Tooth. Wow, can you believe a ~ $60 device with remote control, iPhone mobile app, and programmable curves, like the $400 S&B
Crafty!
@Dissonance, yeah, sure, it's one of the many forms of compulsive acquisition, Gear Acquisition Syndrome or GAS as it's called by the studio freaks. With Asian guitars, for instance, getting to be so good and so cheap, say a Telecaster type for $129 that's better than all but the very highest end Fender originals, it creates a perfect storm of deal-mania, tweaking and know-how, boosting one's sense of worth, camaraderie, better gear to better play, it all comes together. I see people who have 40+ guitars and are still hunting for new ones.
With vaping, what started as a way out of a miserable addiction to sucking on a toxic waste dump becomes something that's enjoyable, tweakworthy and fun. It's a good trade any day. Two packs of cigarettes a day is easily a 300 Euro a month habit. With just a little restraint you can be a well geared-up vaper for 300 Euros a month. Are there really people whose children go hungry as they fondle their latest vape-mail? I suppose there are extreme cases of everything.
As I head towards the 5 year vaping post-smoking mark, it gets a little harder to justify dropping shekels on another mod. Kind of silly saying it's cheaper than, what, smoking? Good thing my wife is fundamentally supportive.