I have no experience with the Extreme but bags aren't my thing and in fact the Extreme is more "advanced" in the high tech sense than the Silver Surfer in that it has a remote control, a fan for optional forced air flow and the versatility of being both a whip vape and a bag vape. The SSV doesn't even have a digital temp display - it's essentially a bare bones whip vape but it's also second to none in that department. Rather than "advanced" I would describe the SSV as an "advancement" of the original wood box vapes like the Vapor Brothers (also a very good vaporizer) in almost every respect. It's a complete re-conceptualization of the box vape in terms of design, material and utility. The outtake hole on the heater cover (where you draw in from) has a relatively narrow circumference and that with the position of the intake hole on the lower side of the cover is set up so when you inhale the vapor comes through as a forward moving spiral so the vapor hits are both massive and cool. The "reverse angle" of the heater cover is such that there's no way that weed will fall out of the wand and into the heater. Such is not the case with the box vapes, and box vapes, at least in my experience, function best when the back end is raised up with a book or something for that reason.
I'm not at all down on the old style box vapes - I have and use my Vapor Brothers quite often, and I have the back end raised with a mouse pad with wrist support, if you can visualize what I'm saying. The SSV "tube" is made from heavy duty aluminum - it's not going to break if it drops. The company is great with service and repair, located in Colorado.
It's also the preferred vaporizer of Willie Nelson.
That said, the SSV is actually not my favorite vaporizer. I use the SSV when I want a heavy hitter or when I have friends over and we want to get extremely fucked up.
My favorite is the Purple Days, it's what I use on an almost daily basis for personal use or with one friend.
But that's another discussion.
While not a unilateral truth, it's considered by some that a perfect "best of both worlds" duo is the SSV and PD. Something you might want to keep in the back of your mind.
If you're new to vaping the SSV has the least amount of learning curve and it's the most forgiving.
What I mean by that is, four years ago I knew nothing about this shit and I went ahead and bought a "standard" SSV (now they have three options, standard, ground glass and hands free - I'm pretty sure about this) and I didn't have a clue and I didn't know about any "fuck combustion" to refer to .
I didn't know that it's good to dry your herb before vaping so I didn't. I didn't know that it's good to grind herb and I didn't own a grinder so the thought didn't cross my mind.
Didn't know about optional temperature, etc., all I did was pull off a bit of weed off a bud and hit off of it from the SSV and it was a revelation in spite of my lack of proper preparation.
So I would say it's "forgiving."
Yeah I would consider a SSV. Mine's a standard - not hands free - and I like it that way. I feel I have more control and I can clear the hits more easily.
