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.

Pilot G2

I recently started a new job, and the default pen in the office supply cabinet is a Pilot G2 07. I haven't used one in quite a while, and I forgot how nice they are. Start up immediately, nice dark line, no blobs of goop on the lines. No wonder they are a huge seller.

I also broke down and ordered three pencils from Jetpens, a Pentel Kerry, a Uniball Kuru Toga, and a Pentel Wing Grip. I've used the Uniball Kuru, and it's really neat. The grip is clear, and you can see the lead rotating around, which is somewhat entertaining to watch. The Pilot Kerry is a nice, professional looking pencil, but I haven't broken it out yet. The Pentel Wing Grip is entertaining to look at, but I have't spent much time writing with it yet.

(4/27/09-Corrected mention of the Pilot Kerry to a Pentel Kerry. Oops)

Uni-ball Vision Needle Point

Well, I was looking for these for a while, and finally found some in an Office Depot. I'm somewhat disappointing, to be honest. I really like the way it writes, but the grip is the same slick, rigid grip that the Uni-ball Micro has. Not very comfortable, I find the soft rubber grips that the Pilot pens have is much more friendly.

Fountain Pens :-)

I just recently cleaned out and filled a Pelikan fountain pen I've had sitting around, and I've really enjoyed writing with it. There is definitely a different feedback from the nib, something that you don't get from a gel or liquid Ink pen. I'm not sure I'm happy carrying around an expensive fountain pen daily, but I enjoy writing with it much more than I like the more inexpensive pens.

Uniball Vision Elite Updates

A capped pen, this one works well after being held vertically in a shirt pocket. I can take it out of my pocket, uncap it, and start writing without a couple of funky looking words. Maybe now I can keep my shirts clean.

Pilot Precise Grip Extra Fine Updates

I've been using this pen for the past couple of days, seeing how much I liked using a capped pen, and I'm running into ink feed problems. If I keep it in my shirt pocket, the pen is held point up, and the ink seems to drain away, towards the bottom of the pen. When I take the cap off, the ink flow is pretty poor for the first couple of words that I write, until the ink returns. I'm finding this pretty annoying.

On the other hand, with a capped pen, I'm not likely to ruin more shirts by putting an extended pen point into my pocket, where the ink can wick,and ruin another shirt.

Bic Pro+ Ballpoint

 

The Bic Pro+ is a traditional retractable ballpoint with molded plastic body and a soft rubber overmold. The grip is nicely contoured, and the rubber runs under the pocket clip giving it good resistance to pulling out of a pocket. The Pocket clip is molded as part of the body, so it doesn't wiggle. The bottom of the clip is designed so that it won't grab onto your pocket, which is a nice feature.

 

The ink itself shows up as a dark grey, not quite the nice solid black that gell or liquid ink pens gives.

As a retractable, the pen point is held firmly when it's extended to write, so it doesn't wiggle about.

Overall, a pretty nice pen for a ballpoint.

Uniball Vision Micro

This is noticeably cheaper than the Vision Elite at $6.49 for four. The clip is a simple piece of metal, with a bent over end to form the clip. While not as visually nice as the Vision Elite, it doesn't have the towel holder inside that will grab onto clothing.







The grip is smooth clear plastic, and the feed mechanism looks very similar to the Vision Elite. There isn't any provision for refills, so it's disposable. Posting the cap on the end it secure, but there isn't a stop on it, so you just push the cap on until it's snug.

Writing on this is pretty nice. It's getting so that all of the pens that I get leave a very nice, deep black line with instant starting and no globs or drips left behind.

Overall, it's an OK pen. I prefer the Vision Elite, which has a more comfortable grip, as well as looking nicer overall.