Hi,
Reviewing the responses above, it seems that
most people are doing well with the Box after a bit of experimentation. I definitely agree that it is important to have the material finely ground for best results. Use a good grinder. Electric ones work especially well, particularly on dry material. If in doubt, or concerned especially with efficiency, using smaller amounts can be helpful in some situations.
Spooky, it is unfortunate that you are displeased with the Box. From your comments, it does seem that it is not so much a question of improper function as it is one of usage patterns, and therefore, not a warranty issue -- leaving me no real recourse to obtain your satisfaction (aside from the tips offered above and elsewhere in this thread). Perhaps the material you are using is too sticky and clumps up so much that shaking/stirring simply does not work? If your demand is for a portable convection vaporizer, your best bet may be the VG (both the Iolite and the VM3 are conduction models). If you post it here
http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=453, someone may offer you a one for one trade -- LB for VG.
Perhaps this situation could have been avoided if there was some sort of "try before you buy" option for vaporizers in general. Unfortunately, the legal situation as it stands today precludes any possibility of this for just about everything -- bongs, vaporizers, regular pipes, etc, whether sold in stores or online. I agree that this is frustrating. As such, we must request that people
be and become as informed as possible before they purchase to see if the Box may be the right product for their usage habits and preferences. There is no one "perfect" vaporizer. If people are expecting the Box to be a panacea, there will be disappointment! The truism to think of here is that we cannot please "all of the people all of the time" -- there will always be some who are unhappy. We make the best compromises we can.
I have had a chance to review all of Spooky's posts to FC (all 10 of them). There is a clear pattern of declaring a preference for a convection vaporizer -- specifically the Extreme vaporizer is mentioned in five of those posts (fully half of them). Of the 10 total posts, 7 of them are in one aspect or another negative comments about the Launch Box (there are 9 posts total in the MF Box threads). It is abundantly clear that Spooky purchased the Extreme first, and is now using that desktop model as the 'reference standard' against which the Box (and potentially
all vaporizers) will be compared and found wanting. This is unfortunate, for it seems to indicate a similar "first vape" bias of opinion that most people have for their first lover or their first real hit -- nothing afterward is ever quite as good. In such situation, recommendations or other offers are misplaced, and are best avoided. In some games, the only way to win is not to play.
To put this into perspective, I have had people declare to me just as vehemently that their trusty bong is the best possible delivery method for all materials, and that they have never found a vaporizer, any vaporizer, to be acceptable or as good as their bong. Its the same argument, really, and it does not matter what answer or comment is given afterward -- an opinion is an opinion, and usually unchangeable regardless.
-- Magic-flight