Oh my FUCKING goodness.
I ordered a TM one week ago and it was waiting for me when I got home today. Did a minimal (tiny!) amount of cleaning with a cotton swab dipped in iso. I almost always have high grade recreational herbs on hand, but I decided to break it in with some nice outdoor I got from a friend. Fired it up and HOLY BALLS. This device is amazing. Very easy draw compared to my Arizer, and... just... wow. Two or three hits at about a 5 and I was significantly effected. An hour later, a couple of puffs at about 8 and man...
How is this machine so incredibly awesome? Sometimes with hobbyist sorts of gear, a high-end product is twice the price of its nearest competitor, but only fractionally better overall. Diminishing returns and all that. But damn! Not here! After just one stem I'm 100% convinced that this was worth every penny. I have been wanting one for a couple years, should have bought one sooner! Now I understand why folks put up with its sometimes finicky nature and need for intermittent calibrations or DIY fixes.
Maybe I'll find more nits to pick as time goes on, but for now the only negative I can express is the strange, fish-like odor. It kinda smells, but oh well. I'm sure that will dissipate soon enough.
Oh, and I ordered a couple of the recommended P26A's only to find that my unit shipped with one rather than a Sony or whatever. So that is neat. Also, I did not get the cool wooden instructions, but a short paper manual (although the paper itself has a woodgrain pattern, so it remains in a similar spirit, I suppose).