Pardon me for insisting but i still find it a huge trade off in cost between the pluses of the miniVAP comparing to others.
"It is effective and extracts thorougly and the abv is light brown." My buddha does the same if used right. I tried revaping in my gn0me and only got one last hit and had to leave my herbs dark brown to pull it off. So, no trade off there, it is the same as many in the market.
You can get the T1 for 200USD, the Solo for 230USD. One has better materials, the other has better battery life. The miniVAP has both but sacrifices in size. The trade off, is between 310-350USD.
The gn0me is 35USD but sacrifices in durability and stealth although it has the best air path and materials used, a trade off of about 525USD.
I believe a comparison between the gn0me and the miniVAP is not entirely fair because of the gn0me ingenious design (simple, cheap and effective ), it will be used in roughly the same settings considering the miniVAP is portable but not easy to hide like the gn0me but the amount of engineering required in the miniVAP rises the price of course. But the bottom line is, there is much achieved with the gn0me that cannot be easily matched, and i am not talking about the price. This is true to all vaporizers when compared to the gn0me or the vapocane although the gn0me wins because you can use without bongs.
My point is still the same as it as always been, if you can afford to spend roughly 65% more in the miniVAP comparing to the T1 or 60% more than with the Solo, for the improvement it delivers in the materials quality and its reflection in taste, i am glad you can.
But if i was that adamant about quality materials i would hook the gn0me to a bubbler or bong and be done with it instead of investing in such a pricey piece.
It does not have digital temp readout, glass vapour path (best path for the more genuine flavour), and although the silver version looks a bit like a soda can, it is risky to use outside such a big vaporizer so it is portable but more for home use, it is not possible to easily attach it to glass like other as well.
I don't know if i am forgetting any important issue, taste/battery life/stealth are my top priorities in vaporizers. Taste is directly linked with the materials used so it is safe to imply that generally speaking better taste equals better materials. Battery life and stealth are the more easily conceded trade offs for the taste. I believe the durability of the materials used is important as well and another factor i wheigh in my decisions albeit at a lower level than these three i mentioned.
At 560USD, buying the miniVAP instead of a T1 is still too much considering i would give up the battery life and temp control but i would gain a lot in stealth and still have the same medicinal materials. Plus, an FC member makes an adapter for the T1 so you could use it at home (if in the US because of the 110V).
I would instead get a T1 or a EVO+gn0me+Solo and at 150+35+230, i would still be 50$ short and 2 vaporizers more versatile and with materials that achieved the same results in the safe point.
Just my opinion here. Like i said earlier, if you can shell close to 600$, it can only be superior than the 200$ competition. But there seems to be too many options that achieve close to the same results or a combination of options that achieves more.
Glad you love your minivap, I didn't think you had a battery problem by what you stated, but rather a dead battery, no? And with the fantastic return policy, I hope they don't just recycle components, although i'm sure they do, which may or may not be why your first unit didn't work well.
