The Pen Addict

#OnePenOneDay TUL Gel Ink Pen

There was a conversation recently around what is the best store brand pen. My rankings look like this:

1. TUL Gel Ink Pen from Office Max

That's it. That is the extent of my list.

Even though I haven't been using it recently, the TUL stacks up with some of the best gel ink pens, and some would even argue that they are better than the Uni-Ball Signo 207 and Pilot G-2. You won't get much argument from me.

In the #OnePenOneDay challenge, this needle tip TUL performed flawlessly all day long, providing a smooth, clean writing experience, and pitch black ink.

Review: TUL Medium Ballpoint

My first TUL pen disappointment.  As great as this pen looks, and as great as the other gel ink TUL pens I have tested perform, the TUL ballpoint just isn't up to snuff.  To make matters worse, the pen barrel is coated with a micro-thin layer of rubber - something other brands of pens do as well - but this one is not good.

I had only recently purchased this pen, pulled it out to write a few lines, said "hmm, not bad", and filed it away in my pen case where I keep the group of pens that I need to review.  When it came time to review it a couple of days later, I removed it from my pen case only to find it coated in lint from the case.  Mind you, this is not a lined pen case, nor did any other pen have lint on it at all, despite the fact they were in there weeks longer than the TUL.  As unfair as it might be, the lint incident totally skewed my perception of this pen.

Since I really couldn't get the barrel cleaned up, I was pretty annoyed when writing with it.  As I mentioned in the written review, the grip is the best part of the pen.  It is just a basic rubber grip, but much superior to the grips on the gel ink TULs.  The diameter is also a bit smaller than the gel, but it still a decent width.  If you absolutely have to have a ballpoint TUL, then go for it - it writes decently enough.  I am far too anal to even try it again.

Click here for the XL review.

Giveaway: TUL Gel & Ballpoint & Bonus Pen!

I shot down to my parents house in Florida for a long weekend, and one of the things the pen addict in me tries to do when I am down there is to hit up the local Office Max for some TUL pens since I don't have one locally.  This time around, I brought back a few extras to giveaway to readers of The Pen Addict, plus I'm going to throw in another hard to find pen (for me anyway) as a bonus.

There will be three winners of this giveaway, who will each recieve the following three pens:

(1) TUL 0.5mm Black Gel Needle Tip (reviewed here)

(1) TUL Ballpoint Medium Black (review upcoming)

(1) Uni-Ball Signo 207 0.7mm Needle Tip (reviewed here)

I am a big fan of both the TUL and Uni-Ball Needle Tip pens, so I thought I would spread the wealth around.  I have yet to even try the TUL Ballpoint as I type this up, but if the pen writes as good as it looks I will be pretty happy.

Here are the giveaway rules:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.  Feel free to link this giveaway on your blog, or share it with anyone you feel is a true pen addict.  If you have a blog, I would love a link back, but it is certainly not required for entry into the contest.

2. For this contest, I will pick three winners at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the numbers of the winners.

3. The contest winners will be posted on Friday, January 29th.  The winners will have one week to email me at the address posted in the right sidebar.

4. I will ship internationally.  I know there are many international readers and fans of The Pen Addict, and I will gladly ship to you at my expense.

Thanks and good luck!

Review: TUL 0.7mm Retractable Gel Blue

If you have an Office Max in your area, and you haven't stopped in to give their TUL brand a try, you are really missing out.  When I bought my TUL 0.5mm Needle Point pens many months ago, my wife grabbed a pack of the standard tip 0.7mm blue, which is her preferred pen setup.  I of course squirreled one away for myself, and coming as no surprise whatsoever, it performs great.

Could the TUL have been a Top 5 contender?  Definitely, and it would probably be right in the #6 or #7 range if I were to extend the list out a bit.  The blue is a really nice shade, and the gel ink is as clean and tight as any other top gel ink pen like the Pilot G-2.  It gives an effortless writing experience, and if they would just improve the grip are a bit I don't think I would have any issues with this pen.

I need to take another road trip to my closest Office Max when I get a chance to try out some of the colored gel ink TULs.  I'm sure they would be just as good as this.

Click here for the XL version.

Review: TUL Needle Point 0.5mm Gel

Pen Addict reader Marilyn first turned me on to the TUL line from Office Max last summer, and I was very impressed that a store brand could be that nice.  Since I don't have an Office Max in my area, I haven't really kept up with the TUL line, but I popped into an Office Max on a recent trip to Florida and found that there is a needle tip version of the same pen.  SOLD!

I grabbed four pack of those, a four pack of the Uni-Ball Signo 207 needle tip, plus the wife went with a four pack of the standard tip 0.7mm blue TUL pens, and a 10-pack of the Zebra pencils similar to what was recently reviewed at Unposted.  That was a pretty good haul for us, and I think the TUL 0.5mm needle tip may be the star of the show.  It writes so smoothly, and the ink is pitch black and quick drying.  I have used this pen several times a week since getting them, and I see no reason to stop.  The only thing I have found that I don't like about the TUL is the grip, which I also mentioned in the first review.  Luckily, I was playing around the other night and found that it slides into the Pilot G-2 barrel perfectly.  Problem solved!

Click Here for the XL review.