The Grasshopper

I think that the reviewers will have to wait until the holiday gift grasshoppers ship. And then there will be a torrent of extremely positive feedback from all quarters, resulting an exponential explosion in sales.
edit: wishful thinking anyways

All by word of mouth and crowd funding, and we can say that we were there first

Says the guy that's sticking with upgrading from his holiday gift grasshopper

It's easy to be negative when you've been jaded by poorly produced and assembled crowd sourced consumer electronics.

By no means do I want others to mirror my negativity. But remember, there is little to no accountability with crowd funding.

If I didn't trust the Grasshopper team to take care of their customers, I wouldn't even be in this discussion right now.

grokit said:

I think that the "reviewers" will have to wait until the holiday gift grasshoppers ship. And then there will be a torrent of extremely positive feedback from all quarters, resulting an exponential explosion in sales.

All by word of mouth and crowd funding, and we can say that we were there first

Says the guy that's sticking with his holiday gift grasshopper

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You forgot to mention the solid gold doubloons you holiday GH ships with.

grokit said:

I think that the "reviewers" will have to wait until the holiday gift grasshoppers ship.

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Sorry. I am exhausted from the last two weeks so I'm not going to comb through the thread, but I thought it was suggested that review units *WOULD* be out in "mid-campaign". [No note on how many or to whom, but the time frame I thought was *SPECIFICALLY* cited.]

Please correct me if my tired brain is confusing posts....

nigel said:

Sorry. I am exhausted from the last two weeks so I'm not going to comb through the thread, but I thought it was suggested that review units *WOULD* be out in "mid-campaign". [No note on how many or to whom, but the time frame I thought was *SPECIFICALLY* cited.]

Please correct me if my tired brain is confusing posts....

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I'm pretty sure you're right. This discussion spiraled out of controls over an innocent joke I made =X

King said:

You forgot to mention the solid gold doubloons you holiday GH ships with.

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You don't just get one...


@Zenpen I see you guys have a presence on reddit, care to give us some updates? Even if they're marginal, we're all salivating over here! How's the LED stealth idea chugging along? How long can I leave the GH in the "on" position before the battery blows up or the pen gets too hot to touch? Speaking of, once you guys have a disposable pen to work with, you should charge it up and leave it on somewhere safe and see what happens to the battery. I'm going to assume it'll vent out (I hope it won't explode?) but what about after? You're marketing a vaporizer to the stoner community mostly, we're forgetful and I can already see a few people forgetting that their pen is on, put it away somewhere, and forgetting to turn it off. What's the possibility of it lighting itself on fire?

Quetzalcoatl said:

You're marketing a vaporizer to the stoner community mostly, we're forgetful and I can already see a few people forgetting that their pen is on, put it away somewhere, and forgetting to turn it off. What's the possibility of it lighting itself on fire?

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On the IndieGoGo they state that the battery lasts 6 hours when left on unused to discharge. So we know that was at least tested once. If their claims are to be believed (As far as I can tell) this operates based on having a long air path that isn't super heated. If they can make that happen there isn't any reason it should get scorching.

King said:

I'm pretty sure you're right. This discussion spiraled out of controls over an innocent joke I made =X

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I'm certain there have been both early posts and more recent posts that have claimed review units will be available "mid-campaign." Only issue is I can't recall if it came from @Zenpen directly (I was just scanning old posts, despite my protestations to exhaustion and bleary eyes) or if it was reddit copypasta from a member here (AKA hearsay as far as I'm concerned for FC).

nigel said:

I'm certain there have been both early posts and more recent posts that have claimed review units will be available "mid-campaign." Only issue is I can't recall if it came from @Zenpen directly (I was just scanning old posts, despite my protestations to exhaustion and bleary eyes) or if it was reddit copypasta from a member here (AKA hearsay as far as I'm concerned for FC).

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I've seen it claimed by others but I missed it from @Zenpen themselves. I'd love to see it if I just missed it; It is a quite long thread at this point.

As far as the reddit is hearsay point. Why? It's the same guys posting from verified accounts. It seems silly to dismiss anything posted elsewhere to me.

nigel said:

I'm certain there have been both early posts and more recent posts that have claimed review units will be available "mid-campaign."

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It says on the campaign page that the holiday gift "people will be the first to receive their grasshoppers".

So fingers crossed

grokit said:

the holiday gift "people will be the first to receive their grasshoppers".

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First *CONSUMERS*.

A review unit is different.
I'm still trying to track down where I saw the (multiple separated by time) statements in relation to review units. My have been in some rabbit hole off of FC...

Zenpen said:

When stated it was comparable to desktops we're thinking in terms of power and heat transfer, you'll have to pardon our nerdiness. I don't see it being that far off my Arizer Q tower, but I guess I have never used it with the intent of making the biggest possible clouds. I would say though, that when I pack each of them full of mint, they both allow me to get extremely minty.

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I came across this when looking for the reviewer unit comments. A few people have made a deal about the GH performing "like a desktop" and I think this is the clarification that Conrad posted as to what the intent of the original statement was meant to be.

nigel said:

Sorry. I am exhausted from the last two weeks so I'm not going to comb through the thread, but I thought it was suggested that review units *WOULD* be out in "mid-campaign". [No note on how many or to whom, but the time frame I thought was *SPECIFICALLY* cited.]

Please correct me if my tired brain is confusing posts....

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The latest info about review units (sounds like they are coming along, though slowly):

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-grasshopper-originally-the-zenpen.9952/page-38#post-496830

The first mention of review units "out by mid-campaign:"

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-grasshopper-originally-the-zenpen.9952/page-24#post-491460

norealmonsters said:

As far as the reddit is hearsay point. Why? It's the same guys posting from verified accounts. It seems silly to dismiss anything posted elsewhere to me.

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Hearsay as I have not read 100% of the sub-reddit (maybe like 5%?? Who can tell? "Some" is the best I could say.), so basing veracity on a third party proclamation on a statement of second party is the very definition of hearsay.



EDIT for B2B post:

Fenton Mewley said:

The latest info about review units (sounds like they are coming along, though slowly):

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-grasshopper-originally-the-zenpen.9952/page-38#post-496830

The first mention of review units "out by mid-campaign:"

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-grasshopper-originally-the-zenpen.9952/page-24#post-491460

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<cameronFrye>@Fenton Mewley, you are my hero.</cameronFrye>






EDIT: Bueller?... Bueller?....Bueller?

nigel said:

Hearsay as I have not read 100% of the reddit thread (maybe like 5%??),

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Very true. If it is ever me, ask, and a link ye shall be swiftly granted.

nigel said:

First *CONSUMERS*.

A review unit is different.

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I understand that reviewers are different in that they might not have to pay for their unit (do they give it back?), but how is the review unit any different?

First off the assembly line but before final packaging/general distribution?

Does this mean that these review units will be beta-tested by these reviewers, who will provide feedback for final firmware tweaking? And then the assembly line will roll for real?

norealmonsters said:

Very true. If it is ever me, ask, and a link ye shall be swiftly granted.

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Respectable.

And fair enough.

grokit said:

I understand that reviewers are different in that they might not have to pay for their unit (do they give it back?), but how is the review unit any different?

First off the assembly line but before final packaging/general distribution?

Does this mean that these review units will be beta-tested by these reviewers, who will provide feedback for final firmware tweaking? And then the assembly line will roll for real?

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Yes. But, no.

And of course there are no "*RULES*" so diff companies can do different things, but generally reviewers will get pre-production copies. As stated, different companies will have different approaches, but it is not uncommon to have "near finished" copies go out to reviewers, with that understanding. (Not just talking vapes here, but a lot of the industries I have been involved in).

In a way, the reviewers are -- indeed as you put it -- "beta testers" (although perhaps "alpha testers" is more accurate, but you get the idea) with the understanding that they are forgiving of non-fundamental issue in review (eg, cosmetics) and will confirm that the underlaying technology is sound. The company will take input and further enhance the product prior to the HUGE commitment of the first consumer run.

There will most likely be more revisions and more limited test runs, prior to that all important first production run. You (@grokit, but I'm sure other people here) and I have personally seen this in a few vapes.

In terms of whether or not the reviewers pay... That's not really the defining definition of reviewer. Generally, it is almost always free. Some companies ask for the product back. Some make you sign statements of desctruction. Some done't care if you ebay it (well.. okay... they *CARE*, but they won't go out of their way to stop you (I've seen a few "unreleased" units wind up for sale on Craig's List in UNNAMED CITY for example. I think I know EXACTLY who that "reviewer" is, but I'm keeping that to myself."))

So the review units are (generally) not the final production units. But they are close enough to actually be reviewed. Who cares if the fit and finish improves, or a button moves a few mm? As long as the functionality is sound, that is all we care about.

about the battery blowing up, I might be completely wrong but didn't the guys from Grasshopper said
that the heater doesn't need much energy at all when you don't draw on the vape, so wouldn't this mean
the battery doesn't get abused that much at all if just left on for an extended period of time?

Belgianvapor said:

about the battery blowing up, I might be completely wrong but didn't the guys from Grasshopper said
that the heater doesn't need much energy at all when you don't draw on the vape, so wouldn't this mean
the battery doesn't get abused that much at all if just left on for an extended period of time?

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IIRC, LiPos have a bigger problem from overcharging than constant discharge.

Heat is also a killer for batteries. If they won't blow or vent do they end up getting hot enough to ruin themselves?

grokit said:

It says on the campaign page that the holiday gift "people will be the first to receive their grasshoppers".

So fingers crossed

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After the first 120 supporters I assume :-P.

I doubt that the battery will explode....they would lawsuits left and right, correct? Imagine it exploding in your pants....that came out wrong but you know what I mean.

HillaryClinton said:

After the first 120 supporters I assume :-P.

I doubt that the battery will explode....they would lawsuits left and right, correct? Imagine it exploding in your pants....that came out wrong but you know what I mean.

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Do you really want me imagining that? I'm already turned on my women in politics and you still have a freebie from Bill's little fiasco....

Hey guys,

Its unlikely that there will be any review units available before the end of the campaign. Since we've received such a huge amount of support, and we have many units to ship out to backers, fulfilling these orders is our priority. With things going better then expected, we have a lot more vapes to build and we don't want this pushing back our ship date.

As for the battery, no it doesn't explode, or get too hot. Give us a little credit here.

As for leaving it on for extended periods, that's perfectly fine, it doesn't create any issue.

I don't see how shipping out 4 or 5 beta units to reviewers would impact your ship date, eh?

Zenpen said:

Hey guys,

Its unlikely that there will be any review units available before the end of the campaign. Since we've received such a huge amount of support, and we have many units to ship out to backers, fulfilling these orders is our priority. With things going better then expected, we have a lot more vapes to build and we don't want this pushing back our ship date.

As for the battery, no it doesn't explode, or get too hot. Give us a little credit here.

As for leaving it on for extended periods, that's perfectly fine, it doesn't create any issue.

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Why are you and your company so resistant of having your units reviewed or tested by someone else outside of your company? Instead of depending on the hype of your product to increase sales?

A good review would probably lead to another $100k in no time. Even a private beta would offer the opportunity to work out any unforeseen kinks before all these contributions are honored.

I'm certainly going to be a lot more nervous about this for the next few months in the absence of any third-party review or beta.

Any FC user located in NC or the south?? I emailed Trevor and they said the are going to be hosting a beta group session in NC somewhere. They will not be sending units out.