Ok veteran members, I am new as of this minute to FC; thank you to everyone who keeps this site interesting and informative. So, let the bullying/hazing begin. I am also a nubbie to vaporizers, only smoked in many forms, for 20 years now; until 2 days ago. After reading all the post in this thread, I concluded that it was new guys against people who have been members here for a long time. Which led me to be hesitate to join FC. I almost always am a skeptic in any forum, I am a member of, much like Lwien seems to be.
I ordered the NO2 before I found this site; which made me very bothered by my purchase after I read through everything. I decided to get a friend to try the NO2 with me when it arrived Wednesday, so we could compare the experience, more on that in a minute.
First my opinions on this thread: After trying the NO2 for the first time, I don't understand why anyone would use already vaped bud in their brand new device like Skystate (spelling?) did. I was anxious to try it with fresh bud, not used bud. So that seemed strange to me.
Second, I appreciate the skepticism in Lwien, because I usually lean that way. but, since he is so far the opposite of Skystate, that made me leery. I have zero vaporizer knowledge, and hope to learn from all here. But, it does concern me that all of his impressions are so negative without actually trying the device himself. So, I decided to throw out his opinion's (which will probably be valuable in the future) and Skystate's reviews, and judge for myself with my buddy Jim.
When I opened the packaging (which was pretty nice), I first checked for the mysterious "plastic smell". In my opinion there was none, but, there was a definite smell. I felt the smell was similar to that of new electronics, like buying a new receiver or Blu Ray player. Once I plugged it in and turned it on for the first time, the smell became much stronger. I will say that the smell was not coming from the mouth piece area, but from the venting area just below.
I am also confused as to why anyone would take a "ghost hit", but since they did, I did too. I let the unit burn in for an hour (cycling it on after each auto shut off, 5 times), and I soaked the inhale tube and mouth piece for that duration, as instructed in owners manual. I too experienced a strange taste in my mouth; I would describe it more like an electronic or oven burn in type of taste, not "plastic like". But again, I don't see the point in a "ghost hit". And do "ghost hits" from other vaporizers, not do anything, or do they leave a strange taste in mouth too? I wouldn't purposely breath in from a brand new oven when it is turned on for the first time either, because that would be toxic too.
So, then I loaded it full, with fresh bud. In my past smoking experience, I can say that I really never liked smoke, and I hate cigarette and cigar smoke; I really mostly smoke for the high, not the taste. My first hit, I really tasted the weed, and Jim agreed, who is also new to vaporizing. And the taste lingered for quite awhile after I was finished. Is that normal for a vaporizer? There was a moderate vapor cloud when I exhaled, and it had a faint weed smell. That was great to me! My paranoia usually comes from worrying that people can smell weed on me. Having allergies I also noticed my nose didn't immediately get stuffed up, another bonus for vaporizers, not just the NO2.
I got a pretty good buzz at 382 degrees F. Not even sure if that is a good temp, I haven't read the forums on temp yet. Jim and I agreed on the smell, and the type buzz for the most part (I partake daily and he doesn't). My buzz was more of a head buzz, than a body buzz, and I felt like I was able to function better, that from my pipe buzz. Maybe I just didn't partake enough.
We both agreed that there wasn't really any overwhelming "plastic like" or electronic like taste, with the hits though. Maybe in the first few hits, but now that it is "broken in" with 48 hours of heavy use. I don't really notice the electronic smell anymore either. I also bought the cigarette lighter charger for it for the car, which became necessary for our 5 hour trip to Chicago. I didn't get the NO2 fully charged before we left Wednesday night, so half way there we had to get the car charger out. After we passed it back and forth for the first couple of hours of the drive.
My initial impression is that the NO2 did what it was supposed to do; It did have a strange smell right out of the box, but not "plasticy", which lessened after burn in, and went away all together after a heavy use period in first 48 hours. We tried it with 3 different types of weed, and all had a different taste, which I found to be pretty cool (I understand why so many members were caught up on taste now). It was easy to use, heated up very fast plugged in, and noticeably slower on battery power.
So far, I am happy with my purchase. But, I am curious to try more of a home unit to see the differences; Jim is going to try the PD or what ever it's called that Lwien likes.
Maybe it will be radically different, if so I will switch. Also to the guy who is so disgusted with the "plastic taste", I suggest you contact Manufacture for a warranty replacement. And then report back to us and let us know if there was anything different with a new device. I also think that Lwien should contact the manufacture for a test device, so he can form an opinion based on actual use. And to SKystate, I think maybe you got a bad rap, in the beginning, but there were a few suspect things you said describing your experience, and for me it was using already vaped bud.
Should I be saving my vaped bud? Can it be reused, or used for something else, can it be combusted? Or is it just garbage?
Michigan Medical card, many combustible devices (not for long), NO2, hopefully a home vaporizer soon too.