So I took the plunge & got me a MiniVap (purchased from Chosty, who was 110% great!)
My impression? This thing produces amazing clouds! The flexicone thing is a little weird, but easy to figure out. I have only used with a water bong, so using with the water pipe attachment. That said, because the small baskets are REALLY small & if you put anything other than a tiny amount in them the airflow is nonexistant, I'll have to get some large baskets when they are available, along with another water pipe attachment & lid (because changing flexicones while using is HOT!)
I do have some questions from the veterans on if I'm doing things wrong or these are just quirks that are common to this vape.
1. Connecting the battery or AC adapter is tricky & when I connect there is never any power. I have to back it off from being all the way for the power to connect. (I thought I got a dead unit at first!)
2. The charger REALLY sucks. Whether it is charging or fully charged is only indicated by a greeen/red light on the plug itself. It supposedly is charging when red & fully charged when green, but other than the first couple times I charged it it's now constantly green even with a battery that is completely dead (indicator light was red on the MiniVap & it wouldn't get to temp. The temp light on the MiniVap was slowly flashing different colors, like it was off most of the time, then would occasionally light up green, red or pink.) I just let it go until it powered off & wouldn't power back on, hoping the charger might go red & actually indicate it was charging. Nope. If I mess with the battery on the dock it can go red for a second, but I can't get it to stay red. The light is green whether or not the battery is on the charger, & it is seeming to be charging (reconnecting to the unit, it will again power on.)
3. This thing takes forever to heat up, even to medium temps. Everything says 2-3 minutes, but mine has never once even heated without going into an auto-shutoff at 4 minutes How long it takes to fully heat to ready is then of course dependent on how quickly I turned it back on, taking about 5:30 to heat if I turn it back on immediately, longer if I forget to watch for it to shut off. (I am in contact with MiniVap about this, which they have said if this continues they will have me ship the unit to Spain to repair, which I can only assume will cost me quite a bit.)
4. The AC adapter is fine & I am truly glad I bought it, as the battery doesn't seem to want to charge. The cable is short though, so I've been having to use an extension cord, which makes it awkward to have the heavier plug in the middle of the line. Does anybody know the name of the connector to the AC adapter/charging base? I would like to find a female-to-male in-line extension cable. A second plug would also be nice, as with only one plug you can either charge the battery or plug it in, but obviously not both (can't believe the adapter didn't come with a second plug!)
So far I have found this to be quite a frustrating experience. It has so much potential to be a great unit, but the battery not charging & taking so long to heat up that it shuts down in the middle of it have made me want to alternatively throw it as far as I can (won't do that with something so expensive!) or relegate it to a shelf & go back to using my other, more trustworthy vapes that actually work. I know there are always lemons out there & it is possible I happened to get a bad unit, but it's also possible that I am just expecting too much and this is what it is. Even if the battery charged easily (what a horribly cheap charger design) I hate the on/off switch is holding both buttons, which I have actually changed settings by mistake when just trying to turn it on/off. The buttons are easy to press by mistake as well, and with LED lights on both sides it is impossible to have the light not shining in your direction (annoying when watching a film in the dark or using a bong that happens to line the light up so it shines directly in your eye. I have to figure out some cover that will not affect the buttons.