Thanks, Stu!!!
What a great place for such things. Glad comparisons will be a part of the resource area. Much better than ask FC where they get shut down pretty quickly and off to ABV thread-land.
A bit of history first if OK (or if not I guess!
). Fixed screens are where they have always been depth wise. Before the adjust-a-bowl screens, metal screen GonG adapters had a flat screen and a ledge inside the nano end. It was about the same height as the glass screen now is. In a good deep GonG, you can still push the basket screen down to the same level, too. Screen depths didn't really come about until about a year in when basket screens were introduced. I got some that Andy sent as a gift. IIRC, he sent them to pretty much everyone who had an earlier nano (or at least those who were still frequenting here), for free!
The screen adjusting didn't really come into play too much until then. Even then, I was still keeping mine deeper for the most part. This does work well, and think many still enjoy it most. I and others prefer the shallow loads - for me mostly because flavor stays pretty well through 3 or 4 hits, and by then a shorter load is cached. I prefer to load another then and keep getting great flavor through pretty much every hit.
For those of us who grind to medium or finer, the glass screens by themselves let in too many crumbs. So, usually with them I use a small, flat stainless steel screen on top of it (solo style if you're familiar, and same size screens fit).
Seems that the glass screen depth has just never been changed - and IMO probably shouldn't. You can always use a basket screen in them to shorten the load space. And, although I don't do it too much, it is nice to throw a small unground nug in every once in a while. Like this, I find it a little better to leave all the space and turn the power dial up a bit more. Further distance between top of load and heater just requires a bit more heat. I also tend to think one of the biggest reasons the glass screen stays at that depth is because Andy (
@ACE OF VAPE) still uses the nano like this - nug on glass screen - unless he's changed it up recently.
This gets to one of the greatest things about the nano IMO. Versatility. Don't think there has been much discussion lately on some of the particular aspects of it. No matter what stem or GonG you're using, you have the ability to easily change the size of the load space, or move it closer or further to the heat. At the same time, you can adjust the heat up or down. Many possible options. Add to this the fact that even when it seems your temp on the top of load is balanced (where further away higher heat should equal closer lower heat) there are still sublte differences. This makes for nearly endless tweaking of each and the synergy between the two.
I've found my personal favorites and tend to stay in those ranges, but still change it up from time to time. It's fun and sometimes has lead to some changes of my favorites. And, these fluctuate a bit anyway depending on what I'm trying to get out of it at the time, whether going dry or through a bubbler (and how a particular rig interacts), different strains, whatever. More importantly, you or anyone else can do the same with a pretty good range of possibilities to find what you like best.
Or, if you don't want to be bothered with such things, you can throw a basket screen in wherever you want (or use fixed depth glass screen) and just adjust your heat to where it feels good for you. Think many are happy with that and just find their spot and stay there. So, it works well right out of the box for all - and you can just leave it there if that's what floats your boat.
Hope this helps and wasn't too far off of what you were asking.