Most resistance from smokers of regular tobacco-based cigarettes comes from the fact they believe the so-called smoke-less, or electronic cigarettes, won't taste the same. Truth is, the electronic cigarettes have been designed to be a real alternative, both in taste and feel, to a regular cigarette while instantly providing the smoker with the same degree of nicotine they expect with each drag.

Smoking an electronic cigarette involves a slightly different technique, similar to that of pipe smoking. Once the smoker takes a drag, nicotine is released directly into a mist and the sensation of it hitting the lungs is virtually identical to it's tobacco based counterpart. Nicotine, on average, reaches the lungs within five to ten seconds.

Afterward, smokers of the electronic cigarette typically don't complain of the soreness that typically accompanies smoking a regular cigarette, although some do experience a slight dryness from the propylene glycol; but this quickly passes.

Some manufacturers of the electronic cigarette have striven to mimic traditional brands of regular tobacco based cigarettes. The NJOY electronic cigarette, for example, comes in four strengths, zero (no nicotine) through strong (Marlboro) as well as flavored brands including menthol, apple or strawberry.

Another big difference between tobacco and electronic cigarettes is price. To get started, a starter kit is priced at about $110. A replacement (rechargeable) battery runs about $15, and the nicotine cartridges cost $25 for a set of five. Each set is equivalent to about two packs of cigarettes. Dollar for dollar, the electronic cigarette is actually cheaper than their unhealthy counterparts over time.

Most users polled the electronic cigarette is as close to the real things by as much as 90-95%. The vapor actually looks like smoke but is made up of water and other ingredients generally regarded as safe. The cartridges contain no tobacco nor do they produce tobacco smoke or smoke of any kind.

Another pleasant difference between electronic cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes is the incredible strength of the smell of stale tobacco given off by smokers. The smell permeates clothes, cars, carpets and drapes. This vanishes completely with electronic cigarettes, since there is no actual fire or burning tobacco. You're not inhaling (nor exhaling) all the oxidized compounds, therefore there's nothing left to cause an odor.

The downside in all of this, as if there were any, is the electronic cigarette will more than likely ruin the smoker's desire to return to typical tobacco based products. After using the smokeless electronic cigarette, taste buds regenerate. After a few months, if an electronic smoker picks up a regular cigarette it will more than likely taste vile.

An added benefit is the ability for the electronic smoker to smoke in virtually any place or environment. Pubs, Clubs, restaurants, theaters and airplanes, places which have banned cigarette smoke for decades are completely legal for electronic smokers since the e-cigarette produces no illegal by-products, and therefore no secondhand smoke.