I’m willing to deal with some of the finer points of electronic cigarette maintenance. There’s the atomizer cleaning (weekly and monthly). There’s cart cleaning, drying, cart filler replacing, and refilling. And though I haven’t quite started mixing my own e-juice, I’ve been reading a lot about DIY flavors and extraction methods.

That’s me, though. And a lot of the e-cig community love doing their own maintenance, flavors, and e-cig mods. There’s a million different ways to clean your atomizer, and it seems like some electronic cigarette fans use their free time to find even more.

But when I’ve explained to my friends the work that goes into cleaning parts and replacing them, a lot of them say it’s too much work for them.

And so, I wanted to take a look at the brands and models that come with their own disposable atomizers (cartomizers)–and I think you should too. Because, if you asked me what kind of electronic cigarette you should get, the number one thing I’d say is: get the one you’ll use. If yours breaks too often, if it’s too hard to replace parts, if you don’t have the time to clean the atomizers, if you hate refilling carts, then you won’t use your electronic cigarette. If you’re serious about changing the way you smoke, but you honestly don’t think you can handle the maintenance, then get one that is perhaps more pricey, but easier for you to use. And order a lot of cartomizers. They last about 1-2 weeks each.

VaporNine — Kits are $57.00, without the cartomizer. Cartomizer combos are $12.95 for five. The cartomizers only come in tobacco and menthol, but the site says you can refill the carts afterward.

Vapor4Life — Kits are $69.50, but come with five cartomizers. They sell the same model as VaporNine.

Green Smoke — Pre-filled carts with attached atomizer. Starter kits are $139.00. Cartridges are in packs of five at $14.75.

Gamucci — The Gamucci ELITE is a disposable electronic cigarette. It’s $18.50, and the site says it’s about 40 cigarettes. I haven’t tried it, but I’d guess it lasts half that long. Doesn’t sound like a good idea for daily use. But this could be a great option if you’re just thinking about e-smoking and want to see what it’s like before you commit to a kit (though, who knows if it has enough vapor or gets hot enough to be appealing). I’m considering getting some of these to pass along to friends who try my e-cig and want to keep on trying it (because they’re not getting one of mine!).

Vapor King photo from Vapor4Life.

UPDATE: I noticed that my wording up there might be a little confusing. Let me clarify: cartomizers will give you about a 1-3 weeks of vaping, depending on how much you do it. Soon I’ll post some videos of how to refill your cartomizer–apparently they’re the option for not-so-lazy vapers as well! And since I’m updating, here a more convenient chart of some newer and older sites that sell cartomizer e-cigs:

Note: “Warranty” means the company will replace defective kits and parts. “Refund” means they will give you your money back for kids and parts. Suppliers will not take back carts and juice, as that would be pretty gross. But, email suppliers, you’ll find that they’re willing to help if you don’t like what you’ve bought.

Looking for cartomizer electronic cigarettes? Here’s a list of suppliers.