Wow, things blew up here while I was asleep!
To state that "From an engineering standpoint we can say its extremely thermodynamically efficient, and we're delivering a huge amount of heat energy to the flowers in little time." doesn't offer any proof about performance where it really counts - the vapor. An honest, face-on, technically sound, thoughtfully choreographed video, will go a long way beyond bold words in support of your claim. "As for the clouds, everyone has different preference and hits differently, hell even lungs are different from person to person, some absorbing a lot of vapor, others not as much. We're not really sure how to demo it because personally I hold in my vapor so I can absorb it, exhaling it is just a big waste." I would like to believe that this statement is merely due to innocently underestimating your audience, misunderstanding the question, and business naivete, rather than an attempt at clever deflection and avoidance. "Let me know if I'm out to lunch and we can somehow demo it better" Per your request, we did let you know that it could be demoed better, and we suggested how - in numerous ways, numerous times. Thereafter, not even a 'Like', a peep, or any indication at all that you value our concern. The expected courtesy of an acknowledgment to prospective investors who are genuinely interested in the development of your product here on FC would be appreciated, and is a given. It goes with the territory on which you tread.
I think Snappo is completely justified in all his statements here. This forum is home to a wide range of users. Different vapes have different approaches, different usage focuses, and appeal to different wants and needs. You don't have to look too long on this forum to realize that, I think:
- Take the MFLB thread, which has 800 pages of love, and there are those here who hate it and think it doesn't work well or tastes poor.
- Take the Solo, which similarly has a lot of love flying its way, but yet also does not appeal at all to some users, like Pakalolo, due to its nature as a 'constant-heating' vape rather than an 'intermittent-heat' vape.
- Take the Cloud, which is regarded as a king of desktop vapes and yet is heavily geared towards water pipe usage and does not appeal to a well-respected vaporist like Vitolo.
- Take the Lotus, which is experiencing a popularity boom for its performance, yet some people scoff at having to deal with lighters and flame.
- Take the loose leaf cart for the Cera, which if you get me going I will gush about until maybe you wish I'd shut up, but just isn't worth the money at all for many or even most others.
And on, and on.
As for me, I enjoy low-temp vapor as well as high-temp vapor. I enjoy sipping on my herbs and savoring the flavor, and yet I also always eventually roast it as dark as I possibly can. However, I won't be concerned if I can't get my herb to the darkest and most even browns with the Grasshopper, because I have a launch box and it excels at accomplishing that with the proper preparation and technique. I'm not looking for the Grasshopper to replace either of the vapes that I own.
Perhaps importantly, unlike some, I'm not only in it for the vapor. I'm a major geek. I love technology. Now, I couldn't care less about a vape if it had the highest technology available and yet only burned herbs, or scorched them unevenly no matter what technique was applied. But, as long as my (IMO modest) expectations are met, clever engineering adds a huge amount of interest for me. I find that sort of engineering in both the launch box and the Cera, and the Grasshopper has me thoroughly intrigued.
I don't see how the Grasshopper could possibly satisfy every kind of vaporist, and I fully expect a wide range of users to post here and express their questions and concerns. That is part of what makes FC great. I also think it is completely reasonable to become concerned, and voice that concern, when your comments and questions go unaddressed.
Cheer-leading posts get swift enthusiastic Zenpen comments and 'Likes', but numerous legitimate concerned inquiries about product and design get a drop-in-the-bucket or nothing at all by comparison. I hope GH/Zenpen is here at FC to engage in a candid, informative, and substantive exchange, and not just be 'all about the money'.
Maybe I'm taking this the wrong way, but I take exception to this characterization. I don't intend to be a cheerleader, in the sense that I don't intend to discourage critical posts. I'm only expressing my own excitement. I fully expect, and even count on, others like you posting if you aren't sold or have any sort of critical question. To lose that would be to lose part of the soul of FC. At its best, this place is not just a meeting of like-minded individuals but also unlike-minded people, and its capacity as a resource for cutting through the market-speak and learning where products do and don't excel depends in part upon that.
A quick segment of the video should just be the person quickly inhaling/exhaling, and that would solve the curiosity. I don't think I've seen a draw less than 2 seconds on the GH, so that is a missing aspect of the GH that should be addressed.
As a tiny convection vape, it would be amazing to me if a tiny draw on it could produce the results that I think some people are hoping for. I'm well-versed in the use of the loose leaf Cera, a vape that has a very powerful (>1000º) coil in its heat exchanger as well as a restricted draw to keep the air moving at the right speed, and even it won't deliver the results that I think these members are hoping for. It has a body made almost entirely of zirconia ceramic, which is an excellent insulator, and still it gets hot from extended use (or, for others, normal use).
Maybe there's a truly incredible feat of engineering involved in the Grasshopper that I'm not expecting, but I have to imagine that its heat exchanger will be less powerful than the LLC's, firstly due to the smaller size and secondly due to the claims of no external heat issues. My theory is that its 3D-printed spiral heat exchanger allows it to make much more efficient use of that smaller amount of heat, and that's the tech part that gets me most excited. I expect it to be less adept at white-walling water pipes than a Cera, but it is finding exactly where it lies in between, in light of its smaller size yet clever engineering, that has me most interested.
But, of course, this is all speculation. I'd like to think that it is informed speculation, but the cold hard facts won't be available until users have these in their hands and FC really gets to shine.
[Continued in the next post due to too many characters. I've never done that before...]