HI all,
Just wanted to give an update here now that I have owned the Gaia for a bit more than 3 months. Generally I've been very happy with the unit.
It may be useful to first reply to my own questions from a few months back.. Just in case others might have the same questions.
It's still a bit of a mystery to me, but I do believe the unit is mostly convection now. Why do I think that? Well, I can easily fill her up only halfway, take 2 or 3 draws on low temperature, and turn the unit off. Next day (or next week) herbs are still fresh, truly looking as if 2 or 3 draws have been taken, and still plenty left. If I've understood conduction well, it would just smoulder on, not leaving much for a next session a few days later (correct me if I'm wrong)
I've emailed Linx about this, and basically there's 2 ways of knowing if it's a new or old version:
1: Filter screens: the old one didn't have them, the new one does
2: Threading on the mouthpiece. The old one had about 5 layers of (thinner) threading, the new one one 2 or 3 thicker ones. Note that I have only seen the new one, so can't be sure of this for 100%.
So in general very pleased.. Vapor tastes very pure and especially at the lower temps (170/180 celcius) very smooth. Higher temps (200 celsius) can be a bit more harsh. I have done some burn offs at the beginning and I feel like taste was quite (maybe not 100%) neutral. In contrary to a comment I read above, I feel like taste of the herb is being conserved pretty well.
The air path is not 100% isolated, which can be tested by tapping the air inlet and then blow in the unit: I feel air coming out of the usb port. I do think that under normal circumstances no air will be really drawn in through there. Vapor path is isolated of course, which I think is most important.
Only one time I've felt the unit become very hot. That was in a group session, and unit had been on for 3 or 4 consecutive sessions, if I remember well at 200 Celcius. I won't be doing that no more, since I think it may affect battery health on the long run. I now do 2 sessions in a row max (or let it cool down in between if I want a 3rd one, which is very rare)
About battery life: I think I can between 10-15 sessions out of it, but I usually charge back to full after 4 or so. Shallow discharges are better for lithium ion batteries
So to wrap it up... very pleased, have not gone back to combustion even once, yet have been p r e t t y hiiiii