Automatic PVs will activate the battery when it is sucked ( a draw) which is detected using a vacuum sensor.

Manual PVs require a button to be pressed by the user. This has been the consensual trend to date.

Manual-users claim that more control can be gained with the button while auto-users say that the auto action more closely resembles real cigarettes (i.e without having to synchronise a button press with a draw).
Auto e-cigs have a disadvantage that the batteries are usually not sealed leading to possible leakage of liquid into the sensor and battery. The trend since 2011 has been in favour for manual operation, however with newer designs, the auto-PV might make a comeback.

The  e-liquid or 'e-juice' will give off an odourless water vapor when heated which looks like smoke.  E-liquid comes with  added flavour and a level of nicotine ranging from 0mg to as much as 36mg. An average real cigarette corresponds to a level of about 18mg/ml of e-liquid for a PV.

The effective ingredient in e-liquid is PG (propylene glycol), more commonly used as a food additive, or preservative. PG was also historically used as anti-freeze, but only because the stuff they used before (ethylene glycol) was toxic, and was replaced with PG because it was proven practically to be non-toxic.

World governments are generally biased towards banning the e-cig / vaporisers. This is mainly due to three reasons;

1. Nicotine delivery is licensed to either drug control or tobacco control legislation. Any 'new' substance is unfavourable to anti-smoking lobbyists who associate anything that looks like a cigarette or nicotine delivery as evil, just like tobacco cigarettes. They forget that the number one health hazard is 'smoke', not nicotine.

2. Long term affects are unknown. (Although medical doctors know that real cigarette smoke contain 4000+ toxins whereas  e-cigs producing water vapour contain virtually no toxins). However, medical doctors/scientists are usually non-smokers so gain no benefit for speaking out in favour of e-cigs. There are a few doctors/experts and even government advisory teams who have spoken out to prove that better health would be the result if smokers switched to e-cigs.

3.  Governments make a VAST amount of money from real cigarette tax (>400% !) which helps balance their budgets, frees up money to purchase other things and keeps parties in power of a whole country. Having e-cigs replace real cigarettes would be a disaster for any government as well as for tobacco companies.

In the current economic climate where most major countries are permanently in sovereign debt, it is ridiculous to think that any government would kill the tobacco industry in favour of e-cigs or no-cigs.

Having said that, there are still some countries which are undecided over the control of e-cigs, and so vaporising is 'tolerated'. Purchasing abroad or via the internet is not illegal but delivery through customs might be. It is a risk that many 'vapers'  take depending on where they live.

Ironically in China (the place where most factories are and the start of e-cigs), e-cigs are although perfectly legal to sell and buy, they are seldom bought by locals. Real cigarettes are so cheap in China together with an abundance of places to smoke, results in locals prefering real tobacco at the risk of their health. Most exports of e-cigs in China are for foreign demand.

Next: A quick history (my memoirs)

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