I am in love with this vibrator. As a person who requires fairly strong vibrations, I was a little nervous about buying something new after the Hitachi Magic Wand. While the Mystic Wand can't match the Hitachi's power, it still provides strong vibrations with more variation in settings than the Hitachi. It's a fantastic alternative to the heavy, noisy, clunky Hitachi Magic Wand while still giving fantastic stimulation.

This toy would be great for someone who has tried the Hitachi and found it too strong, or was simply interested in more settings. It has low, medium, and high vibration settings. It also has three patterns - a short strong pulse, varied pulses of short/long strong vibrations, and a fade from low to high vibrations.

The Mystic Wand definitely beats the Hitachi in terms of how well it travels. There's no need to worry about power since it runs on batteries, and it's significantly smaller. It's also quieter, and can be muffled with a blanket and/or pillow to almost silent.

It is powered by 4 AA batteries, which can be purchased just about anywhere you might go. The battery life is decent, and I've always used cheap dollar store batteries. Some people might find batteries to be a hassle but I never found it took away from the experience - except on occasions I ran out of batteries! Make sure you have extras at all times, or else you may find yourself frustrated.

* Note: there is also a rechargeable version available, but you may run into issues of being able to charge it while traveling, so you may want to stick with the battery-powered version if you want to travel with it a lot.

It's made of silicone, which I have mixed feelings about. It's obviously easier to keep clean, but I hate the fact that it seems to attract dust and dirt so easily. The ridges on the head also have the added drawback of providing a place for dirt, dust, sex fluids, etc. to build up if you don't give it a careful scrub, but it cleans up really easily. I don't share mine so I just use warm water and toy cleaner, and give it a scrub with one of those small brushes designed for cleaning under your nails.

I've never used lube with this toy, but if you do be sure not to use silicone lubes as they can damage silicone toys.

I have had this toy for almost two years, with fairly heavy use during that time. I have found that the screw-on cap for the battery compartment has started to split from being screwed on tightly but otherwise it has held up very well. I would definitely upgrade to the rechargeable version of this toy when mine finally gives out.

I've used this a couple of times in the shower, which has been perfect for getting a little privacy while living in a shared residence.