With puffitup having a huge sale on the solo (189 shipped) it certainly monkey wrenched my plans to pick up the MFLB combo (8 batteries and grinder). It seems to me that they are equally efficient but from what I've read the solo has better taste due to the glass air path. Has anyone used both and can make a comparison?
Solo Vs LB
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stroh
errl enthusiast
the MFLB is something special when it comes to taste, one of the tastiest vaporizers i have ever used. the solo i hear has a strange "artificial" taste from what i have heard from quite a few solo owners. If you want portability and stealth, go for the launchbox. if you want a heavier hitter, go with the solo.
WatTyler
Revolting Peasant
I don't really think that the Solo beats the MFLB for taste. First couple of hits is nice, but so are they from the LB. And after that I'd say it's much of a muchness, although towards the end I do find the vapor taste from the LB to maybe deteriorate slightly quicker at the end of the trench than it does with the Solo. edit: i'd have to add that I've never noticed any artificial taste with my Solo.
'Efficiency', as we misuse the term, is as much down to the user as the vape. These can both perform IMO.
If I had to choose one it would be the Solo for convenience of use- the LB does take a bit of attention and it's a judgement call when the trench is cashed, whereas the Solo is thoughtless vaping right until the end
But it's not as good for travel as the LB- you're limited to a single charge, whereas the LB you're only limited by your battery carrying capacity.
'Efficiency', as we misuse the term, is as much down to the user as the vape. These can both perform IMO.
If I had to choose one it would be the Solo for convenience of use- the LB does take a bit of attention and it's a judgement call when the trench is cashed, whereas the Solo is thoughtless vaping right until the end
But it's not as good for travel as the LB- you're limited to a single charge, whereas the LB you're only limited by your battery carrying capacity.
I don't mind having a single charge and do like the adjustable temp option only thing I was really unsure of was how durable the solo is. I've always leaned toward the LB for the retard warranty but if the solo is truly well built (besides the flaking ceramic, which has been fixed) then I'll swing that way. Durability is the main factor.
I guess I was using the term fixed loosely like apple with the iPhone 4 antennas 
but the amount of flaking units compared to non is relatively small and if arizer atleast acknowledges the problem and offers a solution I'm happy in a way although a unit without any doubts would be preferred
but the amount of flaking units compared to non is relatively small and if arizer atleast acknowledges the problem and offers a solution I'm happy in a way although a unit without any doubts would be preferred
aesthyrian
Blaaaaah
max said:
Apparently the flaking was from the ceramic non stick coating not adhering properly to the stainless steel bowl. They have since switched manufacturer's to hopefully correct the problem. Seems to me the problem was with the previous manufacturer knowingly making shoddy solo's and shipping them to Arizer anyway. Hence why the solo's are still shipped with the ceramic coating, which hopefully will no longer flake on people. My solo is my best friend, I also have not had to deal with any of the aforementioned shortcomings.
Personally I prefer the solo for taste, as IMO with the MFLB you can only get good taste if you continually take small hits, but if you chase clouds you have a pretty nasty tasting bowl, also it is nearly impossible to combust with the solo which helps with the taste and performance. For stealth the MFLB is king. For performance I definitely prefer my solo of the MFLB. Since purchasing my solo I have become really annoyed with charging those damn AA's for my MFLB.
They are definitely different beast.So besides the changeable ceramic piece that flakes, would the Solo I buy now be exactly the same as the ones that are going to ship with the new SS piece? So once I get the SS piece, will tis Solo be just as good, or is it the actual outside of the Solo that chips also?
The flaking ceramic is actually just the coating on the bowl itself. The replacement units were shipped sans coating to those who experienced the flaking. Ceramic coated units are still being sold (mostly without issue) until exsisting stock is depleted. I imagine the design change to SS willl be permanent, but I haven't actually heard from Arizer that it will be going forward.Nosferatu said:
The outside of the Solo has had no issues that I know of.
I absolutely love my Solo when it comes to getting the clouds of vapor that I want from a portable device. When it comes to being truly discreet I have heard of someone who managed to vape during dinner at a nice restaurant using his MFLB, so if you're looking to be secretive about it then I'd say Magic Flight all day. If you're in need of thick vapor and a longer battery life, then I would go with the Solo. Both are awesome vaporizers, so luckily whichever one you end up with, you won't be disappointed.
max
Out to lunch
Thanks for clearing that up for me. The flaking problem might have shown up right away if either the factory or Arizer had given it an endurance test. If the factory had been instructed to give the product a durability test, then they failed. OTOH, Arizer could have done the same once they had some units in their hands. The buck stops with them, since final QC is their responsibility. I don't think the factory would knowingly ship "shoddy" units, since it's in their best interest to produce a quality product and stay in Arizer's good graces.aesthyrian said:
What I'm curious about is the reason for using the ceramic coating in the first place. If they felt like the ss needed a 'covering/coating', why? And if you're gonna coat ss with ceramic, seems like you'd want to make sure the ceramic stayed put. With this Arizer product, early buyers ended up being beta testers.
You've nailed it there. These two vapes have different strong points, and the prospective buyer just has to decide which 'plus' he or she is after. Once you know your priority, the decision should be easy.VaporNation said:
OhTheAgony
here for the chicks
The Arizer guy claimed it was mainly for cosmetic reasons. He simply liked the bowl to be black on the inside as he was worried that the SS would change color over time and he felt that would look cheap or something.
The flaking problem isn't with all first models btw. Apparently there have been a few bad batches where the ceramic coating wasn't properly curred or backed, this is the explanation Arizer gave for the flaking anyway.
There is a more detailed explanation about the backing/curing procedure and what went wrong with it somewhere in the Solo thread if you have the time to go through it. I think the fault that was made was that they'd put to many bowls in the backing oven at once to speed up the process, but the accuracy of my memories seems to be fluctuating so I'm not a 100% sure if I explained it correctly
The flaking problem isn't with all first models btw. Apparently there have been a few bad batches where the ceramic coating wasn't properly curred or backed, this is the explanation Arizer gave for the flaking anyway.
There is a more detailed explanation about the backing/curing procedure and what went wrong with it somewhere in the Solo thread if you have the time to go through it. I think the fault that was made was that they'd put to many bowls in the backing oven at once to speed up the process, but the accuracy of my memories seems to be fluctuating so I'm not a 100% sure if I explained it correctly
aesthyrian
Blaaaaah
max said:
If you look at Vaped Ape's post in the arier solo thread http://fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?pid=151441#p151441 he post an e-mail from Steve at arizer which explains the defect rate with the old supplier.
"Our supplier was already aware of the problem and had corrected it but didn't tell us since it was a very small number bowls and it fell within our contract with them, having an allowable 3% defect rate.
Regardless, today we pulled the contract and we'll divide the business between two other companies who do ceramic coating."
max said:
That was the same question I had. Steve even said that the ceramic coating what strictly for cosmetic purposes only. I don't see how it's worth the cost to put on this ceramic coating in the first place, if it is only for aesthetic purposes?
The reason, as stated before (and this also came up in the Aromazap thread recently) is that stainless steel discolors over time, and people might then also think something is wrong with their Solo. Coating the bowl seemed more professional and high-quality to Arizer.
It sounds like this was a case of shoddy manufacturing to me. Tons of vaporizer manufacturers use ceramic coated heating elements and yet I've never heard of a flaking issue with say, a 7th Floor product. I realize that it's not exactly the same since a bowl and an element are not the same thing, but the principles seem comparable.
The LB and the Solo are very different products. Personally the Solo doesn't seem attractive to me because I feel a portable should be a simple device, but if you want something that feels closer to a desktop vape in a portable form factor, it might be for you. Also provided it's still going on, you can't beat Randy's price.
It sounds like this was a case of shoddy manufacturing to me. Tons of vaporizer manufacturers use ceramic coated heating elements and yet I've never heard of a flaking issue with say, a 7th Floor product. I realize that it's not exactly the same since a bowl and an element are not the same thing, but the principles seem comparable.
The LB and the Solo are very different products. Personally the Solo doesn't seem attractive to me because I feel a portable should be a simple device, but if you want something that feels closer to a desktop vape in a portable form factor, it might be for you. Also provided it's still going on, you can't beat Randy's price.
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