Still Active!

Wow, this is still active!

Ampad Computation Book

It's the Ampad 22-157 book. Link to amazon here

It's pretty nice

Long time, no updates

I've settled in on an approach. I've switched to capped pens, I ruined too many shirts by putting an extended pen into a shirt pocket. Because of this, I'm now using a Pilot Precise Grip Extra Fine Needle Point pen. Daily, I'm writing either on Hp Bright White Inkjet paper in a Circa Notebook, or an Ampad Computation book. This pen puts down a nice dark line, and starts up immediately.

I may toss it sometime soon though, as occasionally it doesn't flow ink nicely, and I end up with a couple of words that are very lightly inked. I'll give this another couple of days, thought. The rubber Grip is pretty nice and tacky, so it doesn't slip in my fingers.

If I toss this, I'll have to do digging in my box o pens for something to replace it. Hmmmm...

Late to the Party/Sharpie Pen RT

I guess I'm late to the Sharpie retractable pen party. I've been using one for a couple of weeks, and it's working well so far. Leaves a nice dark line, and it comfortable to write with. I've read through some of the other commentary on this, and I haven't had it dry up yet, but I'm paying attention to that.

Long time with no updates

Sorry it's been so long between updates. I've been by the big box office supply stores, but I haven't come across anything new, so nothing to review. I've been bouncing back and forth between the Signo and the energel needlepoints for the past couple of months, and they are both writing well. I'll keep my eyes open for new things to try.

Pentel Energel Needlepoint/Uniball 207 Needlepoint

I've been switching off between two different pens. The Uniball 207 Needlepoint, in Fine (0.5), as well as the Pentel Energel Needlepoint in 0.5. I've been enjoying both pens, but they lay down very different lines. The Energel is more of an extra fine point, while the Uniball is noticeably wider, verging on a medium tip.

From a design point of view, the Uniball is much nicer looking. There is a nice soft-touch grip with subtle texturing, and the body of the pen is clear, with a smoked black tint. The body of the pen is nicely contoured, and it feels much smaller in the hand than the Pentel.

The Pentel is like writing with a dowel. it's a straight body, with a fairly slick soft touch grip. There isn't any contour to the body, and there is a block of usage instructions on it-Remove tip before use, Always retract after use, etc. visually, there is a lot of mass in your hand as you write, which makes the pen seem somewhat back heavy. The Uniball is much more visually front loaded, making it seem much smaller and lighter.

Earlier Energels has a self retracting mechanism that would retract the point when putting it into a pocket, but that's been removed, which is a big loss. I much prefer the Pentel as a writing instrument, but visually, the Uniball is much nicer.

Uni Kuru Toga

I've been writing with this pen for a couple of weeks so far, and I'm really enjoying it. The lead rotation mechanism works well, although it's really set up for printing, instead of cursive. The lead rotates when the point is pushed down onto the paper, so it really depends on picking it up and putting it down. It takes ~ 40 pushes to rotate the lead around, so the lead wears down evenly. I'm regretting that I didn't pick one up in 0.3 when I was ordering from jet pens. I'll have to remember this for the next time.