Sanford Uni-ball Deluxe Micro 0.5-0.7mm Rollerball

Sanford Uni-ball Deluxe Micro 0.5-0.7mm Rollerball

So, today we have an interesting pen to take a look at. While I’m not a huge fan of rollerballs, they are the next couple pens that I have up for review (probably because I hold off reviewing them for as long as I possibly can). I picked a pack of these (slightly over-priced) pens at OfficeMax a while back when I had some reward points to spend and I had to buy something before they expired.

Uni-balls website lists these as being 0.5mm, but in my experience the line width actually varies slightly between 0.5 and 0.7mm. The ink helps prevent check-washing, is fade- and water-resistant, as well as being acid-free and comes in black, blue, and red. Other than the metallic painted barrel and strip which labels it as “Deluxe”, this pen actually doesn’t have any frills.

On the pro side, it does writer very, very smoothly, but in my opinion, the cons outweight the pros. There’s no grip at all, just black plastic section, the ink occasionally “blots” onto the page (definitely not good for a leftie like me), and it has an extremely slow dry time (about 15 seconds on the Leuchtturm1917 Dot Notebook I tested it on). Not on my “buy again” list…

#dailyarsenal

Well, time for another random post… As I was twittering the other day (or would that be tweeting? I never have quite figured out all the noun and verb forms of “twitter”) I noticed that some people were posting some of the stuff they carry around with them everyday under the tag of #dailyarsenal, hence the name of this post… I quickly discovered, not to my surprise, that all of the things I carry will most definitely not fit into a 140 character space, much less 10 of them, so I decided to do a blog about what I carry and then tweet the link instead…

#1. Wenger Swiss Gear Synergy Backpack

I’m not sure why, but I have always been drawn to backpacks… Perhaps because you can basically carry a mobile office on your back? I’ve been a fan of the Swiss Gear line since about 8th grade, when I received my first one… I didn’t purchase my second one until my senior year, and even then, it wasn’t because the first one wore out or fell apart, but because I got a bigger laptop… I purchased my third one (the Synergy I have now) when I started college two years ago simply due to the fact that college books are a little heavier and thicker than high school books, and I needed a bit more room… The Synergy fits most 15.4″ screen laptops, has a mp3 player pocket and a headphone port, shock absorbing shoulder straps, and airflow back and strap padding (which makes it extremely comfortable to carry and allows air to reach your back, even when loaded down with 80 lbs of stuff)…

#2. Dell Studio 15 Laptop + Charger

I always carry my laptop with me… No exceptions… Ever… Ok, glad we got that covered. Luckily, the Synergy backpack contains a space made just for my wonderful companion. I got the royal blue one (2 o’clock in the picture) and upgraded it to 4 GB of RAM, a 1 GB graphics card, 500 GB hard drive, and 9-cell battery. So, whether I’m plugged in at home playing LOtRO or in the car with the family on vacation playing Age of Empires III on the highest graphics settings, this nice lil’ laptop has the power to do it (and runs for almost 4 hours on the highest settings on battery power… Yep, be jealous…).

#3. Nomadic PN-02 Side Pocket Pencil Case

See review for more info…

#4. University of Charleston Padfolio with a Pad of Doane Paper

#5. Western Digital Blue 320 GB Passport Hard Drive

For all those files that you just don’t want to clog up your laptop hard drive with, but couldn’t go a day without (I use mine to store music, movies, book manuscripts, books, etc…). Very handy…

#6. Kikkerland Writersblok Medium Ruled Notebook

#7. Yasutomo Niji Roll

Got two of these on sale from Blick Art Supplies… They have 36 slots that easily hold pencils and occasionally pens. Currently the one I carry has my Staedtler Tri-Line Plus markers, Pilot VBalls,a couple pencils, and my Bic Cristals in it…

#8. Pens, Pencils, Etc.

Currently, I’m carrying the following:

• Pentel Energel Alloy RT Gel Pen (Black)
• Pentel Energel 0.7mm Gel Pens (Black, Blue, Red, and Green)
• Pentel Energel 0.5mm Gel Pen (Black)
• Uni-Ball Signo bit 0.38 mm and 0.7mm Gel Pens (Black)
• Pilot Frixion 0.7mm Erasable Gel Pens (Black, Blue, and Red)
• Uni Fanthom 0.7mm Erasable Gel Pen (Orange)
• Pentel Hybrid Technica 0.3mm and 0.4mm Gel Pens (Black)
• Morning Glory Mach Pen II 0.7mm Rollerball (Blue)
• Pentel Jolt 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

Welp, that should just about do it… Technically, I carry some other stuff too, but none of it’s really important enough to mention… Now you know that I’m an pen-obsessive, laptop-backpack totin’ nut from the middle of nowhere… Feel free to comment about your #dailyarsenal!

Pilot VBall Fine/Extra Fine Rollerballs – Black and Red

Pen #41.
Pilot VBall Fine/Extra Fine Rollerballs – Black and Red

A staple around our office (at least the section I work in) are the Pilot VBall rollerballs. They release a little too much ink for my tastes (ie. bleed-through), but still a pretty good pen!

While you can’t see the ink in the black versions of this pen, the red extra-fine’s ink reservoir is visible and it shows that Pilot packs these pens with ink with no room left to spare. The one thing that sorta takes more joy out of this pen is that fact that there is no grip at all. The barrel ends in slick plastic which my fingers tend to slide down while I’m writing, causing me to have to constantly adjust my writing position. Still, decent pens overall…

3.5 out of 5 stars…

Sanford Uniball Vision Retractable Rollerball (Gel) 0.8mm

Pen #27.
Sanford Uniball Vision Retractable Rollerball (Gel) 0.8mm

Strolling through Office Max again the other day (no, I still haven’t learned to avoid office supply stores), I was looking for something different. So, for the first time in a while, I skipped over the gel pen section and went to the rollerballs. This pack of pens caught my attention because 1.) they looked cool, 2.) were an oddball size (0.8mm), and 3.) they were a retractable version of the Vision line (I always liked the needlepoint version). I must admit, these are quite different than what I expected. While they were in the rollerball section (and are supposedly part of the Vision rollerball product line), these seem to be more of a gel roller than a true water-based rollerball. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I must admit that I like the futuristic design of the pens, and they seem to be pretty comfortable to write with. They are also very smooth and lay down ink relatively consistently (although this red one seems to be a little defective). I also like the clamp-style binder clip (which also causes the pen to retract, making sure it won’t leak in your pocket/backpack).

5 out of 5 stars!

Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball Medium (1.0mm?)

Pen #20.
Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball Medium (1.0mm?)

What’s this!? A zebra pen that I am not acquainted with? Well, we shall soon rectify the situation. Picked up this interesting member of the Zebra family (along with a 1.6mm Zebra Tapli ballpoint) at my college bookstore. Both pens write with a bolder line than I prefer, but I thought I’d at least give them a try. I’m going to assume that these are the Bic Cristal (low-cost) of the Zebra product lines. While most gel pens are known for their smooth writing, I had to use the same amount of pressure that I usually would with a ballpoint. Another downside, the scratchiness… The whole time I was writing, I thought I was using a dollar-store ballpoint. The pen does lay down a bold, dark line though. Who knows, maybe I just got a bad pen. Sorry Zebra, better luck next time.

2 out of 5 stars…

Bic Triumph 537R 0.5mm Rollerball

Pen #19.
Bic Triumph 537R 0.5mm Rollerball

Another one of my Staples trip finds, the Bic Triumph 537R really seemed to stand out on the shelf. I bought a 4-pack of these (for $6.99, if I remember correctly) and put them in my laptop case to reviews, and promptly forgot about them. After doing a little research, I discovered that the Triumph line of pens from Bic were created and marketed for the high-end consumer (average home income of $84,000+ per Bic’s press release). Well, I’m not a high-end consumer, but I am a pen nut! The 537R, I must admit, is one of the most pleasant rollerballs I have used in a while. It does have the “rollerballic” tendency to bleed a bit, but it writes very smoothly. One of the things that bugs me is the way it looks. Bic says that they were trying to attract up-scale consumers with the pen’s sleek design and “metal finish”. The “metal finish” on one of mine has already begun to scrape off with just medium use. Other than that, a pretty decent pen.

4 out of 5 stars…

Morning Glory Mach Pen II 0.4mm

Pen #12.
Morning Glory Mach Pen II 0.4mm

As I mentioned in my review of the Ohto Pieni needle-point, my last order from JetPens was slightly out of the ordinary. While I had been planning on picking up a pen case and a couple gel pens, I ended up also picking up a couple ballpoints and this rollerball. While JetPens focuses mainly on items from China and Japan, this Mach Pen II, manufactured in Korea, is one of the exceptions. My main issue with rollerball pens is their annoying tendency to bleed through if you happen to leave the tip on the paper while thinking what to write next. The Mach II still has this tendency (although I believe it’s reduced by the fine tip). Although there is a slight scratchy feeling when writing, it’s more of a pleasant “the pen is touching the paper and applying ink” scratch than the annoying “this pen catches on every fiber in the paper” scratch. Another great pick from JetPens.

4 out of 5 stars!