Well......Ladies and Gentlemen,
My Herbie has arrived and boy has it been sweet. I waited for it to arrive before shipping off my Evo for repair, and I have not been disappointed. To make this quick, I'm going to list my favorite things about Herbie and being the honest person that I am I will also point out its flaws. In all of my purchases, I'm rarely ever brand loyal. I try to buy what I feel is the best, for the money that I'm willing to spend, except for maybe Xbox>PS, but that's for another thread. Oh and btw, since I rarely bake during the day, I'm currently using the Aromatherapy mode to make things just a little bit sweeter in the man room.
Oh and an FYI. I'm not sure if the message I got was different than earlier units, but someone mentioned earlier in the thread that Herbalizer told people not to mention problems with the unit on the forum. That is a bit of a stretch IMO. It says a lot of things, mainly pertaining to how much they stand by their product, and there is a part that says "If you have any questions or anything does not seem right, let us know first and we will quickly make it right." Isn't that a fairly standard warranty stance? No where in that sentence do I get the feeling that they are discouraging me from commenting about the unit.
Pros
- Appearance- Looks Awesome. Almost like a flying saucer in a nice pewter metallic (similar to my gone but not forgotten 03 Cobra) with a deep clearcoat. When closed it looks like a common household item, when open it looks like a medical device.
- Digital Screen is the Bees Knees! Love the little messages, the UI is intuitive/easy and adds nice graphical touches.
- Removable cord is very long and easy to replace with its common plug type .
- I love Aromatherapy mode and use it often. The herbal crowd is going to love this thing.
- Unit is whisper quiet when in Vaportherapy mode w/out fan assist.
- Mezzanine area is awesome. The included stashbox, cleaning brush, essential oils, grinder card, and oil pads have nice/discreet place for storage, and stay secure.
- Bowl is very easy to use, with a very strong magnet and a wide opening for easy herb placement.
- Unit feels very sturdy (no glass to break, except for maybe halogen housing) and impossible to knock over with such a low center of gravity.
- Versatility- This thing does it all. Because of this unit I've tried my first balloon and whip sessions, and its dry hits are smooth enough that I'm not missing my HT as much as I originally thought I would.
- Vaporization effectiveness- Herbie seems to hit with a more gradual feeling. It's not all upfront, seems to last longer and midway through you are seriously floored. This might be attributed to the way I use it. I consistently start at Uplifting , then gradually move up into move up into balanced, and end with Herbie on max heat. ABV is always consistent and medium to dark brown.
- The fan assist is great. I really like mixing in the fan assist during sessions.
- Customer Service- My contact with the company has been excellent. While I haven't had a warranty issue yet, dealing with Sheila and reading the statements made by Herbalizer, I feel very confident in recommending this product to anyone at this time.
Cons
- Price- After a few days of use, IMO the unit should be priced in the $500-550 range. In there defense it is very early in the lifecycle of this product, so early adopters should expect to pay a premium. But I think eventually the unit needs to get at least $100 cheaper. Industry leading customer service might be a way for them to justify this price, but that will need to be proven.
- Clamshell Opening feels a little cheap for the price range of the unit. I would prefer if the mezzanine clicked/locked into the lid when lifting the lid up. The lid also should click/lock into place when down. Mine appears to have a small gap when closed.
- Mezzanine plastic is unfinished, giving it the appearance of being lower quality, unlike the high quality feel of the outer plastic.
- In a quiet room, Aromatherapy fan is loud. The unit is also loud when using the additional fan in vaportherapy mode. Its not unbearable, but its a bit high pitched and louder than my gaming rig. I would estimate Xbox 360 loud.
- Cord is white ( being nitpicky here). Would prefer it be the same color as the unit so it doesn't make the unit stand out as much.
- Flavor with the whip or balloon suffers compared to glass. I have not used my HT with the Herbie yet, which I expect will improve flavor dramatically.
Conclusion-
I'm really enjoying my time with the Herbie. It truly is 3 different units in one and I fully expect some great things from Herbalizer and the Herbie customers as far creating an even more diverse experience in the future. If I was someone at Herbalizer, I would be investing my time and effort into some different bowl options. A glass bowl or some type of GonG (preferably 18mm) so we can really open up the water options for this unit.
The Finale...
I'll attempt to answer the question a lot of you want answered. Herbie vs Evo is a tough decision. If you only had to choose one, I know what I would choose, but it really will depend on your needs. I feel that the Herbie appeals to the more medicinal crowd. It's appearance, its effectiveness, and its price make it truly the medicinal user's utopia. It's really the Swiss Army knife of Vapes. IMO the Evo will appeal more to the recreational user. It's appearance, glass compatibility, cloud production, and for the same price you get a nice glass HT of your choice, but reliability/warranty issues are a concern. Cloud production seems about the same or slightly in the Evo's favor, but I'll have to wait to compare cloud production until I get a functional Evo back, because mine started pumping like a smokestack before I sent it in.
/novel