there are a lot of variables. Its a tuff call for those of us that use both. If your a beginner, I would not suggest mechanicals. Also if you get a beastie enough regulated like the smy 260. you don't have to rely on dangerously low ohms in your RDA to get the performance you want. I'll put my God mod or my SMY 260 with a 2.0ohm rba up against anyone's .1XX ohms dripper on a mech any day. #1, there are no failsafe's in mechanical mods, you are relying entirely upon your battery and your build. #2. With most regulated high performance mods, like the ones I've mentioned and even like the IPV mini II... you have lots of safety features. In the end, it all boils down to personal preference and you always should factor safety in there as well.