Zebra Tect 2ways

So shortly after I got my 0.5 Tect 2 way I ordered the 0.7 and 0.3 versions, then the Light 0.3 and 0.5.

After a month or so of using them my preferences have changed. I find it extremely difficult to use a 0.5 for doing calculations, and 0.3 is ok for writing. I prefer 0.5 for writing / taking notes and o.3 for calculations. However, the 0.3 sees plenty of writing action, since the small size makes it ideal for exponents and subscript letters.

The Light version is cool, but in black looks somewhat cheap, the white one looks better, and it's easier to use for long periods of time due to the weight, but for general use I like the regular / heavy one.

Also, Zebra has recently released two more colors for the regular version, black and red.

Zebra Tect 2way 1000 0.5mm

What an awesome pencil.

I bought this pencil less than a month ago to give it a try, since it looked cool. It wasn't until I started using it that I found out it had a shaker mechanism, which is awesome. I've been using it a lot, and just ordered a 0.3 and a 0.7 from JetPens, and the next order will include the light versions to try them out.

My first shaker pencil was the classic Pilot "The Shaker" that I got from my dad (he loves those pencils) and still have it somewhere in my house, but now I've been using mostly drafting pencils, since I like them more, they're good for... well, drafting and graphing, and they're slim enough.

Hopefully my order will be here by Monday or so (yeah, I'm in AZ, so shipping from San Jose is quite fast), still in time for most finals so I get to use them.

Oh yeah, and the guy who sits next to me in Calculus liked it a lot and asked me where did I find it because it was really cool.

And it's 2:40AM, so I'm not making a lot of sense, sorry.

Sharpie pens

Well, after I got the Sharpie Pen in 2008 the lineup has expanded considerably, and I've tried most of them. I just found out about the medium tip, which I'll have to try at some point.

After trying the original one, the RT and the Grip versions, I have the following conclusions.

-They all write the same

-Seems like the blue ink on the original one is indeed lighter than in the new ones

-There are no color choices for the newer pens.

Size

The original pen wins the prize for size and appearance, it has the dimensions of a regular pen, looks and feels like one

Ergonomics

There is a tie between the Grip and the RT. I liked the thick grip of the RT, but after writing for a while that just doesn't really work, on the other hand, the Grip is too comfortable to be used during long periods of time. Ergonomics on the original pen are, sadly, terrible. Mostly due to the sharp edge where you normally hold it to write, hopefully Sanford will address this eventually

Portability

The original pen, its size means you can take it everywhere. The Grip takes the 2nd place because it is slightly bigger, and the RT takes the last place because it's huge.

Miscellaneous.

One thing I noticed is that both versions with a rubber grip tend to pick up a lot of lint, it is an issue for me because they normally travel in a specific pocket in my pants, and they pick up a lot of lint, but the Grip one has at least some form of protection

The RT is very prone to leakage, because if the clicky thing is pressed accidentally when the pen is in a pocket, the tip might actually come out of the body and the ink is then transferred to the fabric (my pants are living proof of why you shouldn't carry the G-2 Mont Blanc in your pockets, and the Pen RT to some extent).

And the classic pen is available in 8 colors I believe, while the others are just available in blue, black and red.

I came back

So first of all, I must apologize for disappearing suddenly. I was extremely busy with real life matters that i wasn't having enough time for this (heck, I wasn't even having time to sleep). Hopefully I'll now be able to make at least a weekly post.

I'm also going to focus a lot on drafting pencils, which I've been using a lot recently, and I've had the chance to try out most lead sizes (except for 0.9mm - so far).

Oh yeah, I'm writing this post at almost 3 AM, and decided these lyrics by They Might Be Giants are appropriate, in fact, this has been a constant for the past few weeks.

Am I awake?

What time is it?

When I get through this day

Can someone tell me how

And how much longer now

Am I awake?

Quartet EnduraGlide

Not the usual review I guess.
I tried one of these markers once (for like 5 mins) and thought they were really cool, but no stores nearby carried these, so I was thinking about getting some online, and I never got them.
Yesterday I went to Staples (with the clear intention of getting what I needed, not stopping anywhere else) and noticed that the pens/markers aisle had been rearranged and slightly improved, they had those stations where you can try some pens, and they had a lot of markers and pens available by the unit, including the EnduraGlide (and unlike before, they also had pretty much the entire line of Quartet dry erase products).

I grabbed two, an aqua and a blue, for further testing.

I must say that they write really good, they feel good, they are odorless (they still have a small odor of isopropanol) and they come in a lot of colors. I'll probably stop by later to get more colors.

Unlike most current dry-erase markers, these allow you to see the ink tanks and you can estimate how much ink is left. Also, the tip is not too soft and not too hard; that's my main issue with the Expo2 / Expo low odor markers, the tip is too hard and doesn't feel good when writing with a brand new marker.

Pilot G-2, Revisited

About 6 years after trying the G-2 for the first time, I feel it's time to write a 2nd review of it.

As of now, I think that the G-2 is the pen family that allows the most customization, since you can choose
a)4 different body styles and sizes
b)4 different tip sizes
c)many different colors (not available in all sizes)

plus, you can fit cartridges designed for
a)Q-7 (0.5mm gel)
b) Precise Vx RT (5mm, 5mm liquid)
c)VBall RT (EF, F, B, liquid)
d) Mont Blanc Rollerball (Fine, Extra Fine, liquid)

I decided to stick with the 0.7mm regular G-2, which has the most colors available and I find it to be the best in most types of paper.

You can feel how the pen moves freely on the paper, doesn't feel scratchy or anything like that, the ink is not dispatched in excess, however, you still need to be careful not to smear the ink. The ink seems to be lasting, although the amount of writing I do now is by no means comparable to what I was doing a little over a year ago.

My main complaint is the availability, some colors like navy blue are only available by the unit from Pilot's website, the other option is a 3-pack available at certain stores (it comes in orange, forest green and navy), which sometimes complicates things, since I don't use forest green a lot (let alone neon orange).

And for those who try the MontBlanc conversion, DO NOT carry that pen in your pocket, that ink has a nasty habit to spill when you accidentaly press the clicky mechanism.

More Round Stics

And as summer progresses, I keep on getting more pens in my collection, and as my travel and hotel stays continues, I've been able to get more Round Stic Pens.

It turns out that some Marriott brands are renovating themselves, and with the renovations, comes an increased ecology thing, and more things are made from recycled materials, pens included.

They moved away from the traditional white barrels and solid color caps, so the new Marriott pens have a translucent barrel with a dark translucent red caps (please note that it's not completely "clear" like the Diamante or Crystal pens), and the Courtyard by Marriott are also translucent, but the caps are translucent green or orange. And on the barrel they have a small recycle sign and say 74%. These are the new Bic Ecolutions pens, which are already available for the consumer market.

These are actually really cool, and here are the pics


My room had 2 green ones, the 2 orange ones were stolen from my parents' room. The design of the notepads has also changed.


And here you can see the all of them. The Courtyard logo was dropped from the new pens, and you can see the old one there. The old design has been around for at least 10 years.

Bic Round Stic Medium USA

So a month after my last post, I'm back online. School is over and I'm already on my way home (should go to bed soon, since I'll be waking up in less than 5 hours. This is partially the reason of my post.


If you have followed my blog for a while you might think I just went crazy or something. Yes, I'm well known to my family and friends to be quite eccentric with pens, yes, I have a Pilot G2 Mont Blanc Edition, yes, I order 0.38 pens from JetPens, yes, I spent 15 minutes at a drugstore looking for more 0.05mm Uni Pin pens, and many more yeses, but, everything started with hotel pens. Over the course of my almost 19 years of existence I have stayed in a bunch of hotels, from a motel that didn't even have hot water to Fiesta Americana and Intercontinental luxury hotels, and if possible, I've kept the pens and the keycards (plus my dad's and aunt's travels have brought me many more).

The reality is that a decent number of hotels put a couple of pens in your room. At some point my collection had more than 100 hotel pens that spanned the US, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Spain. And my collection is still quite big, and dominated by the Bic Round Stic Medium.

The Round Stic Medium (RSM) is a pen that's not nearly as famous as the famous "Crystal", in fact, it's almost impossible to get it in some countries, but my collection is quite big.

I must say that the RSM is a great pen, if you consider that you can buy a 12 pack of them for a few bucks, yeah, some people use G-2s, 207s, etc, but they keep a jar of RSMs because people rarely return G-2s. The feel of them is way better than that of the Crystal, and the writing is not bad, again, I've used cheap pens for a long time, and the RSM is just great.

While looking for hotels near the Phoenix airport I saw an email from Continental Airlines with some kind of special offer when staying at Hyatt Place hotels. I looked and found one of these hotels close to the airport and for a decent price.

After checking in a few hours ago I noticed that the pens came in several colors, and when I went down to the front desk to arrange tomorrow's transportation I asked them about the number of colors, to which they just looked at each other and said hmmm 5, 6 or so, and asked me if I wanted one of each color (a big yes) and one of the guys went somewhere and came back with 6 pens, and the other one had already given me like 4. Being happier than a 5 year old who just got the newest action toy I had to post this.

And here are the pictures. These clear barrels are awesome, and not easily found (one of my friends thought I was tricking him when I offered him a brand new Pilot G-2 in exchange for his clear barreled RSM that he got at a Radisson).

Bic Triumph 537R

So a couple of months back I went to Staples looking for nothing in specific and found some somewhat expensive Bic pens. I decided to think about them and come back later, mostly because of previous dissapointment with Bic pens (including the Z4 leak back in 7th grade). I grabbed a 4 pack a few days later and tried it out.

This is one of the few refillable Bic pens (probably the only one unless you consider the 5 cents a piece stic pens, which are indeed refillable, but refills aren't sold -they must be sourced from another pen :|) and after trying it out I decided that it wasn't bad after all. It doesn't have the nice feel of Pilot or Uniball pens, but it doesn't feel like a Bic either.

Some people complain of ink bleeding, I was using them on regular bond paper (20lb 92 brightness, 30% recycled, Staples brand) and didn't notice anything bad, but if you are using 20lb notepads things might be different.

I still have to try the 730R ones, but that will be later, once I throw away some 3 or 4 (and an upcoming trip home means I will come back with ziploc bags full of pens)

In conclusion, not a bad pen, a departure from what we think when we hear "Bic". I'm not sure if I would buy another one though, I like more Pilots and Uniballs, so I might just go thru this 4-pack, maybe try the 730R and that will be it.

On a side note, there are many pens advertised as refillable, but aside from the Pilot G2 and Uniball Signo (regular, 7mm ones), refills are hard to come by unless you order them online, possibly in a big order (to avoid paying $2 for a refill and $7 for the shipping) and selection is sometimes limited.

Pictures will come once I find a pen (3 of them are sitting inside a box in my storage unit, the remaining one has been flying around my truck for the past week after I wrote down some coordinates while traveling on a dirt road and didn't put it back in my pocket

They're here!

After some inactivity, I have a story to share.

At the same time I moved for college, my family moved to an apartment, and in the process it seems like someone found my writing instruments drawers and got some new stuff, among them was a Uni M552, several pens and a Pentel Graph 1000 limited in blue.

I haven't been able to find another blue 0.5mm one (I think there's a few on Ebay selling from like Russia or Japan, so I'll have to take a look). Well, JetPens now has the 2nd edition of the limited edition, so I managed to order 3 of the champagne 0.5mm and a grey 0.3mm (they were out in 0.5mm) and they just got here (I wasn't expecting them until tomorrow), at this point I'm really happy. Even though the blue one was my favorite, these ones are really nice (and at some point they might end up being collectors items -like many other engineering/architecture things after 40 years).

Photos to follow later, in the meantime, here is a pic from JetPens

Going green

Well, after almost 2 months of inactivity here's a new review. I have plenty of pens to review, I just forget about it or don;t have time to do it.

This time is the Zebra Eco Sarasa Clip 0.7mm, I picked a 2-pack of these at Office Max during a sale they had last week, 25%off their eco products so I could not resist.

This pen is exactly the same as the Asian Sarasa Clip which you can get from JetPens (they now call it the Push Clip), the Sarasa Clip is not found at normal stores here in the US (not that I know of) but the Eco is. The main difference is that the Eco's clip is clear plastic as opposed to the clip of the Asian Clip which is the color of the ink. I feel it to be far more comfortable than the regular Sarasa, which is not bad at all, but the Clip is better.

The interesting part is this. According to their website, the Eco Sarasa is made of 81% post consumer waste, including Polypropylene (good, those grocery bags are filling up our landfills), Polycarbonate from CD's and headlamps and Polyacetal from cassette tape reels, plus the packaging that is 100% post consumer waste.

I feel that this is a good approach on becoming greener, of course, trying to get rid of things like paper magazines or newspapers is outrageous, but the idea of helping the environment using pens made of recyclable materials (which are already recycled) is good and not very expensive (unlike switching your 5.3L V8 Chevy Tahoe for a $45000 Hybrid Tahoe). Also remember that it takes a regular Sarasa cartridge so you can get a 0.4mm or 0.5mm cartridge from Jetpens and still be green enough. Uniball Signo and Pentel Energel / Hybrid Technica refills fit too (I did have a needle point Sarasa for a while)

The downside, it comes only in black, but hey, you can still put other cartridges in there. And the rubber grip tends to collect some lint.

The pictures will appear later since my camera is in my truck and I already feel the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

Uni-Ball Vision Needle Fine

A new addition to Uniball's lineup. It is available as Fine and Micro and in a variety of colors.

Contrary to what The Pen Addict did, I have to say that it is a really good pen, no bleed, almost no feathering and good feeling. The key is in the paper, it will perform miserably if you use 15/16lb regular paper, it will be barely decent with 20lb bond paper, and the best performance so far is in the Staples Eco-Easy Paper Pads, probably because of the paper composition (it's mainly a cellulose obtained from sugarcane bagasse), the only problem is that the ink doesn't dry out very fast, so you can have disastrous results (lefties, don't even try it).

I got a 4 pack of black ones at Walmart, and yes, the performance was bad at first, until I tried the Staples paper, which gave really good results.

The pen itself is a normal Vision, just that the graphics are different, the needle tip of course, and the end cap is from the UB Boxy, the Asia-Pacific version of the eye/Vision. The large cap with the clip is a new design.

Staples Eco-Friendly Writing Pads

Well, during a trip to Staples yesterday I stopped at the writing pads section and found a new product, some Staples brand Eco-Friendly Writing Pads, while taking a closer look the paper looked good quality, so I decided to get a 2-pack, after all, at $1.99+tax, $1/pad is decent.

After arriving home I decided to open one and check it, well, the paper is really good. Even though it feels as light as 15/16 lb paper, pens glide like it were 20 lb, and feathering is almost nonexistant. It has a slight bright and smooth texture which makes it feel so good.

The big deal in these pads is that the paper is made from sugarcane waste (bagasse), which is rich in cellulose, it is not recycled paper itself, just made from waste, and for being made out of waste, it is good. I assume that because of this material the paper looks different, I might be wrong though, but I don't care much for that.

Also, I find myself taking notes in class very often and then re-copying them neatly, because while you are rushing in class, everything is scratched, rewritten, fast drawings, etc, so the idea of spending $1 in a pad that might end up in the recycle can doesn't seem that bad, unlike throwing away a $3 Doane Paper pad for example. The only bad thing is that the back of the pad is thin cardboard, unlike many pads that have thick, rigid backs.

The pad has 50 sheets and comes in both letter size and a smaller one.

Here's the page for the letter size one http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p4__253774_Business_Supplies_0_10051_SC1:CG10:CL140569 the website only has it in a 12-pack, so if you don't want 12, then stop by a Staples.

I finally have pictures for the blog, they will be up soon, together with 4 reviews.

Sanford Penguin

Well, not the usual pen review.

The Penguin was a marker made by Sanford years ago, it was marketed as a marker that could be used to mark stuff that was going to be frozen (hence the name). It is essentially a Sharpie that withstands freezing temperatures.

I managed to get one last week, brand new and it's great.

Even though I don't need a marker for frozen stuff, I got it more for it's historical/sentimental value. A Penguin was my first permanent marker, well, I borrowed it from my mom, but that was the first one, then a black sharpie came, then a blue one and then a red one. That was I'd guess around 93-94, and the marker has been missing for a long time, apparently, she gave it to my grandma, or she threw hers away and got one for my grandma , I have no idea. I know there's one in my grandma's kitchen, and I had been considering replacing it with a brand new Sharpie, just to keep it, but now I have a new one, so I'm fine.

I might not even use it a lot, since I have 2 black Twin Tip Sharpies and 3 Fine Industrial ones (plus a large stock of assorted Sharpie and Signal markers down in Panama, stock that will find it's way here).

BREAKING NEWS

First of all, The Pen Addict has moved from http://penaddiction.blogspot.com to www.penaddict.com , so please update your bookmarks.


Second, I'm hoping to have some pictures this week for new reviews, and I'm trying to play catch up. This is what I currently have pending

-Bic Round Stic Med
-Paper Mate Eagle Med
-Pilot VBall RT
-Pilot V5 / V5RT
-Pilot V7
-Pilot G2
-UB Vision Needle Micro / Fine
-Bic Ultra Round Stic Grip Fine / Med // believe it or not, these $2/dz pens are wonderful [and I got them for $0.99/dz this weekend]

Sharpie | Pen.

I finally was able to get my hands on a Sharpie | Pen. and it's great, I spent about 5 years without using that type of pens (fineliners / markers / felt tip pens / whatever you call them). I've been using them in both 15 lb and 20 lb paper and they are great. Bleeding is not an issue, the Uni Vision Needle get more bleeding than the Sharpie, and I don't write double sided, so I'm not really affected by bleeding.

The downside of felt tip pens is that they do offer some resistance to roll (well, to slide, since they don't roll), and it gets hard to write fast, so I only use them in low speed situations (like math class). I frequently find myself taking fast notes and then copying them again at a slower pace, resulting in neater handwriting and overall nicer look of the notes, and there I can use them, and the results are really nice.

Some people have complained about the blue one being too soft. It does feel soft, at least compared to other blue pens, but tolerable. I write on yellow paper most of the time, so it also gets a different look. If I do happen to stumble across a darker copy, I'll probably talk to Sanford and see if they can exchange them, but other than that, I'm fine.

I don't know about overall life since I haven't used as much as I use my Pilot V5 RT, which I'm guessing will reach the end of its useful life this week or the next one.

Stay tuned for pictures

Bic Select Fountain Pen

The Bic Select pens finally arrived to Panama. I saw these on sale at Amsterdam Airport back in January, however, they didn't reach Panama until August.
This is a cheap fountain pen, about $3 or so, it's a refillable disposable, I'll explain later why.
The writing part itself is good, it might not compare to some higher-end pens, but it writes good when compared to the Pilot VPen/Varsity for example.
The build quality is HORRIBLE, to be honest, even the cheaper Crystal and Round Stic (which are like $1/dz) are better. The plastic looks cheap, has some rough edges and so does the grip. The pen is extremely light, so it also feels really fragile, and well, feels cheap too.
I read in some forum that the pen was made of metal, I'm not sure if that used to be the case or that's the case for the US or Europe.
I think this is my first negative review, but to be honest, for $3 there are better pens like the VPen. The Bic is refillable, and I believe takes universal cartridges, but I doubt that the pen will last more than one cartridge.

An update

Well, I moved last week for college to Arizona. I'll now have access to pens that aren't sold down there. I will be reviewing them soon, but without pictures (temporarily) since I'm stuck with a big DSLR and a camera phone that shoots like 100x100 or somehting like that, so while I get a better phone (which I should be ordering soon) or a small P&S, no pictures.

My current collection has
Pilot VBall RT
Pilot Precise V5
UB Vision Needle Fine
UB Vision Needle Micro
Pilot Precise V5RT
Sharpie | Pen

Recently added
UB Vision RT
Pilot Precise V5RT

And some marketing pens (hotels, banks and the Natl Guard)

I'll have some soon

Uni-Ball Grip Roller

Another Uni-Ball. Again, I'm a Pilot and Uni-Ball guy, but Pilots aren't easily found here, so I use UB mostly.




UB-247 BLUE
UPC/EAN 4902778747001

This is a nice pen, the first and last one that I owned was back 5 or so years ago and if I recall correctly, they were different. They had a grey barrel, the cap was slightly different, and the color was indicated by a small cap in the cap and the grip too I believe.
I hadn't used a roller pen with a foam/felt reservoir (all were liquid ink stored in a tank) and they feel good, this is a bold/medium point, so glides really good on bond paper. It does exhibit some bleed, but for me it doesn't represent a problem, since I rarely write on both sides of the paper.

I don't know how long does the ink last, not much I guess, I've left the pen uncapped for hours, and I do recall leaving my old 247 completely dry.


Color availability isn't huge, black blue and red, and your choice of medium or fine point. The grip is a nice offering, I believe that none of the Visions are available with a grip (except for the Vision Exact if it's still made and maybe the Vision RT -Haven't seen one ever). What you do lose with the UB-247 is the ink window, so you can unexpectedly run out of ink, but that's pretty much normal with most pens that have a similar ink storage system.




EDIT:
I just found the old ones I'm talking about. I found in a Turkish website both models, and the old ones are called UB-145/147. Below are the UB-147 (0.7mm) ones. I was wrong on the grip, it's dark grey in all colors.

Pilot VBall Grip Extra Fine

Ok, so I'm finally reviewing something that's not Uniball. I got these V-Ball at a Target back in February, I was away from home, so I just tried them that night on a notebook provided by the hotel and found them quite scratchy, I first thought that I had wasted by money, but back home I tried them and found them to be nice. I never used them widely because I still had a large stock of G-2s for school use, but I've been using them more recently.

On Bond paper it doesn't feel scratchy at all, I have tried an Office Depot brand yellow pad (OD Mexico, so it might not be the same paper as the US one) and feels scratchy, not to mention the notepads provided by Fairfield Inn by Marriott, it feels like you're writing on sandpaper, but on bond paper it feels excellent. Of course, it doesn't glide like the Vision Elite 0.8mm, but it saves ink, and for being Extra Fine, they don't feel bad at all.

Pilots are still hard to find here, you can go to a particular store and maybe find 2 packs of V7s, a pack of Precise Grip and that's if you're lucky, and their parking sucks, so you rarely go there. Office Depot doesn't carry them, none of the supermarkets or drugstores do, and our local wholesale retailer, PriceSmart, only sells G-2s in a large pack (like 10 or 12 blacks, 3 blues and 1 red or something like that), so for Pilot I rely on my own imports or stuff that friends/family bring/send.




The grip on the VBall Grip is really comfortable, it's not just a simple piece of rubber, it does provide excellent traction and feeling, while it's not a gel grip like the one on the UB 207 Premier, it does an excellent job. This pen is available in 3 sizes, Extra Fine, Fine and Medium or Bold (not sure of the name), and you can identify them by the text on the barrel and the barrel colors (they become darker with the tip size, the thickest one get's a dark grey instead of white).


An interesting detail on the VBall Grip is that you can unscrew the ink cartrige (in the same way that you do with the UB Vision Elite), the difference is that I haven't really seen the cartridges for sale, so that could have been done just in case you need it in the future, to let you have your favorite tip size on your favorite barrel color, or to let you see how much ink you have left. I don't know, but it's an interesting detail.

About the packaging, I got mine in a black 3-pack, but I recall seeing a pack containing 2 blacks, 1 or 2 blues and 1 red, Pilot's traditional KRGB packaging (black, red, green, blue) (they should consider CMYK too) plus some stores appear to be carrying dozens, when I'm in the US I normally shop for writing instruments at Target or Walmart, so I'm quite unfamiliar with Staples/OfficeMax/Office Depot offerings (The multi-color pack I mentioned was seen at Office MAx, I was in a place that had an Office Max conveniently placed next to a Target, so it was really nice). I don't recall seeing numbers on the cardboard packaging, so you might have to do some research to find the size in mm (I think it's 0.5/0.7/0.9 or 1.0 but don't quote me on that).

For those who are interested, I'm using Doane Paper, www.doanepaper.com