I got my Solo a few days ago, the first day UPS didn't even ring and just left the notice, I was so pissed I called to complain and they said maybe he'd come a 2nd time but they called back to say it would only come the next day. This time I made sure to open the front windows to hear the truck.
Well either my Q was still defective or the Solo is infinitely more efficient because after one load I was at "I can't take any more" while with the Q after 3 loads in a row with little effect (yet as much visible vapor) I had concluded it was my tolerance but it didn't make much sense either as I had never had so little effect as I got from the Q and I've been using vaporizers for well over 5 years. Let's just say I won't be missing the Q whatsoever, except maybe for the essential oil diffusing feature but that's not the reason for getting a vape.
Some replies say you can breathe at a more than normal rate through your Solo? That is FAR from the case with mine, mine is actually not differentiable from holding my breath with my mouth closed and nose pinched, I cannot detect any airflow whatsoever when I inhale, but obviously there a very, very slow flow as I then exhale vapor. I noticed tilting the glass a bit does increase airflow, but I came to like the very slow highly restricted flow as it seems to provide a better, richer extraction, similar to making espresso instead of coffee.
BTW do your solos have the 4 small holes in the heater at the "corner" where the cylindrical opening meets the bottom? Isn't this a weird place to have the holes as they end up on the other side of the glass when you insert it so the glass blocks the airflow. Wouldn't it have made more sense to put these holes closer to the center where the hot air is on the right side of the glass? This is why tilting the glass improves airflow so much.
Oh yea, to answer the questions some asked:
-I got mine in silver with the black control panel
-Both my glass thingies are loose and I have no problem with that, I think a snug one would bother me, and it's easy to hold the glass with a finger even if holding it with one hand
-When set to higher temps for a while, the top outside of the unit does get very warm, nearly hot, this is normal, don't forget it's over 400 degrees less than half an inch away
nowonknows said:
So is there any differance in how restrictive the airflow is from sucking on the stem on its own to sucking through it when connected to the Solo? From what I have heard, restictive air path seems to be the biggest downside with this unit, just want to know if this is purely due to the design of the stem, if so maybe it should be redisgned so a screen is required.
Definitely, it's the Solo that restricts the flow, not the 2 holes or them getting clogged. Tilting the stem a bit does improve airflow, but at the expense of a less rich extraction. As I explained above the restricted flow make the equivalent of an espresso while the EQ with it's free airflow is more of a drip coffee. I much prefer to leave my stem flat to restrict the airflow until you can't even detect any airflow at all, which provides a very rich and dense vapor. The restricted airflow is more than likely intentional and necessary due to the power limitations of a portable. Think about it, it would take 5 times more energy to heat the air if it was flowing 5 times faster. Arizer did a very good move in restricting the airflow so much. In fact that may be why I rarely felt any effect using my Q, perhaps I was just inhaling too fast resulting in poor extraction, with the Solo, this bad habit is forced to end because I can't inhale fast so for me this is a huge benefit. Come to think of it, I think the Q only affected me the few times that the airflow felt restricted (don't know exactly why it was sometimes more restricted, didn't seem to be the screen).
