DNA 200 first real review

[valld]

Guys, I just watched PBusardo's review (part 1) of the DNA 200 and decided to open a new thread to discuss it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KQGxsYfG9U
 
 

[zeroflow]

Hi, some of my opinions to his review:

- 200W for new people

Kanthal is locked to about 100W by default. You need the EScribe Software to change that. For me, this is a big enough hurdle to not "accidentially" set it to 200W and fry up your atty.
Also, you need a special window of resistance to really come to 200W - otherwise you run into the amp or voltage limit

- Only Ni200 by default

I dont't know where to hide it in the menu - so that would be the hard part - figuring out where to put it. Maybe Locked -> hold both buttons to change temp -> hold both buttons to change TCR material
But it would be great to have like Ni200 / Ti01 / NiFe30 as default curves and another parameter for "Insert TCR Value" like with dicodes to select your own coils.
For non-linear coils (in theory) you still need eScribe. But if you purchase any kind of new wire and want to try it out, you just put in the TCR value (either in 0,00650 format or as 650)

[Mad Scientist]

The mod makers or their vendors could set up the profiles for a variety of wires. This, in addition to actually setting up the case thermal parameters and setting the battery Wh capacity before shipping would be a simple value add which might better distinguish one mod or even one mod vendor from another. Anyway, it's so easy to set a profile for any wire type getting a csv from Steam Engine that it almost doesn't really matter except for someone opening up their vape mail and using it for the first day or two. I hate to say "I would" when I'm not a mod vendor and can't necessarily appreciate their priorities but I will anyway -- I would set up several of the profiles and screens for commonly used wire types to make what I sell stand out from the crowd right out of the box.

[retird]

The wire providers could furnish the csv. info right on the package.

[TheRedBaron]

I couldn't wait for his review any longer and bought an hcigar vt200 a few weeks ago. Watching his review was still informative and entertaining. I felt his "thumbs down" issues were personal pet peeves for his vaping experience with a kfun v4. That atty was by far the worst temp control atty I ever used. That said, his "thumbs up" doesn't touch any of the wonderful personal programmable parameters in the Escribe software even though he mentions the software several times. His overall viewpoint is evident when he stated, if he would build a box mod to sell, this is the only chip he would use. That's the best thumbs up endorsement statement I've ever seen from him. Another great job by Phil Busardo! Wire venders will see a bump in sales as soon as they include the DNA200 specs. I expect free market competition will make it a standard supplied info on every label soon.

[Bobby]

I do mostly agree with you but not completely.
He stated that the 'tumbs down' issues were minor and all are soft/firmware solvable. I also see most issues here on the forum posted as feature requests, so he is not alone and they are not solely related to a Kayfun.

[valld]

Bobby said:

I do mostly agree with you but not completely.
He stated that the 'tumbs down' issues were minor and all are soft/firmware solvable. I also see most issues here on the forum posted as feature requests, so he is not alone and they are not solely related to a Kayfun.

I agree 100%. I'm somehow happy that I did open my other feature request thread, about the not very convenient way of changing the temperature from the device, few days before Busardo's review. It looks like many people want this changes, me including.

Anyway, the board is great and just needs some menu/controls improvements to become perfect. I just wish they will be done quickly, because this technology (as he said in the review) is moving with 250 miles per hour, and Evolv must be quick with all software and menu 'refinements', if they don't want to end up with a great but obsolete board. Chinese manufacturers are catching up quickly with interesting (and very cheap) solutions and the DNA 200 might just be forgotten if there are reasonable alternatives at 1/5 of it's price....

[Seigfried]

I think all they would need to do is swap Temp change mode with the profile select mode. Power lock, double click to enter change temp. Maybe hold Up and Down to change temp in case of accidental presses. It should be doable.  I think it is hard to figure out what functions the users would use more often and keeping continuity across the product lines is the reason for the current button set up.

[zeroflow]

Also, I noticed he changed the "watt press increment" settings - does anyone know why the latest version of escribe (1.0.32) doesn't provide that settings? 

[lordbyron77]

ESCRIBE, part II Good evening, I'd like to understand better what was stated by Busardo from min 35, about TCR fails. Can gently someone expand Busardo's explanation? http://youtu.be/csOQTYEht5I

[VapingBad]

He is saying that devices that use a single ration/rate for how the resistance changes with heat (Temperature Coefficient of Resistance TCR) will never work as well with some materials.  He show how Ti suffers from this the rate of resistance change with the temp changes as the temp goes past 450 F.  The DNA uses a curve or variable rate that can remain accurate with materials that have a changing (non-linear) TCR.

He is taking a post her out of context about how you can make a temperature curve, this is an early adapters forum and the post clearly spelled out the risks and was in no way aimed at the causal user.   He is right that wire vendors should provide the temperature curves, but not criticising Evolv IMO.  BTW this is the issue with stainless Steel as the specs for ss are all to do with corrosion resistance and hardness the TCR can be different from different steels that are the same grade, not a problem if the wire vendor provides the data.

[VapingBad]

Episode 2 part II 35 mins about being too complicated, well there are a 3 main issues IMO.
1.  enthusiasts & reviewers see something you can set and feel the need to mess with it.
2.  manufactures have not set the the values for the device, particularity battery level and Kanthal max power requiring connection to a PC, otherwise you don't need to.
3.  raising popularity of coil materials other than Nichrome, Kanthal and Ni200 in the community, personally Ni200 is perfect, but...

If point 2 is taken care of you can just set the right temp and give it to your granny or grandpa and tell them to just use up, down and fire and stick to Kanthal, Nichrome & Ni200 coils (they don't have to select modes or lock res like some other devices) it is a very easy device to use.

[retird]

[video]https://youtu.be/Bywx-twQMM8[/video]

[video]https://youtu.be/csOQTYEht5I[/video]

[BJ43]

I agree that in temp control the screen should have temp instead of watts as the primary screen and easy to adjust without having to hit the fire button 5 times routine.  Like Phil, I leave my whatts set at 200 and let the chip do its work. All my tweaking is with temp control and sometimes  a preheat adjustment.

[sofarsogood]

I watched all three videos. Vapers are spoiled brats. This board is a game changer in a lot of ways. Evolve wanted to put everybody in their place and they did that. I want one but what I need right now is a mod with the same endurance that I got from my iStick 50, 4400 mah. When I was doing watts control on the iStick 50 I built 1.5 ohm coils and limited power to 20 watts. That was efficient and lasted for several days. On my current TC device I get the vape I want from 420 degrees and 20 max watts but it's single cell. I use titanium so I can build 1 ohm coils, the max allowed on the Kangxin mini (which has been trouble free). I'm expecting that the DNA 200 will let me build titanium to 1.5 ohm for the sake of efficiency and 20 watts will be more than enough maxx power. 2 3000 mah 18650s would be 6000 mah, significantly more than the iStick 50. I would use the dna200's settings to hard limit the power so as not to overstress the batteries. I would limit watts to zero when the mod jumps out of TC mode since I never use watts control any more. I want a quality tootle puffer vape with a LOT of battery endurance in a compact device, not a brick. I can live with replacable or user servicable batteries. Other things being equal I'd prefer 2 18650s if it means more endurance in a more compact space.