Review: Pentel EnerGel Euro Needle-Point Gel Ink Pen 0.35mm Blue

Well, wasn't this a great surprise in the latest JetPens new products upload!  Pentel is already in the sub-0.5mm market with the ever popular Slicci, and the not so popular Technica, but seeing a micro tip show up in the hugely popular EnerGel line is very cool.  After my railing on the industry just a week ago, is there hope for micro tipped pens in the marketplace after all?  Maybe, maybe not, but if this pen is successful, maybe that will lead Pentel and others to push the market a little more.

A little disconcerting is the fact that - like all of the good micro tipped pens - information on the EnerGel Euro is only found on the Pentel Japan site.  So will we see this pen on the shelves in the US?  All signs point towards no, but this is a very straightforward Energel build so I will keep my fingers crossed, because this is a very good pen, and I think it would do very well in the mainstream market.

On the performance front, the EnerGel Euro 0.35mm is top notch.  This pen reminds me a lot of the Uni-Ball Signo DX, even though it is a needle tip.  The barrel feels as sturdy, if not more so, and the writing quality is almost the same.  The 0.35mm tip writes more like an 0.4mm tip, but clearly finer than an 0.5mm.  The ink flow is flawless, the blue in ink a great shade, and it is impressively smooth.

I'll say it until the cows come home, and I'm going to say it again - thank goodness for JetPens.  These pens are available there, although the 0.35mm models are currently sold out.  Keep your eyes peeled though because I bet they will restock quickly for such a nice pen.

Click here for the XL review.

Products used:

Pentel EnerGel Euro Needle-Point Gel Ink Pen 0.35mm Blue from JetPens

Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Review: Sharpie Pen Medium

As the poet Tom Petty once said "Waiting is the hardest part", and it seems like I had to wait forever for the Sharpie Pen in medium to show up on my local store shelves.  I noticed them at Wal-Mart a month or so ago, and of course I couldn't help myself in picking up a few 2-packs.

After reviewing the original Sharpie Pen, the Sharpie Pen RT, and the Sharpie Pen Grip, I have come to a pretty clear pecking order in which one I prefer.  The original Sharpie pen is still my personal favorite.  I reach for the Grip on occasion, but I always find myself going back to the original.  I think it is the visual aspect of the long needle tip that I like so much.  The RT isn't in the conversation at all.  In fact, I think I have given most of them away.  I never could get past some of the funky barrel design aspects, but most importantly, the tips of the RT seem to dry out extremely fast.

The medium tip has been a real pleasure to write with so far.  While I prefer the finer line of the original, the medium lays down a beautiful dark line.  The tip is very firm also, which I like a lot.  It reminds me of some of the larger tipped Sakura Pigma Microns.

Have you had a chance to use all of the new Sharpie Pen products yet?  Which one do you prefer?

Click here for the XL review.

Review: Pentel Vicuna Super Smooth Ballpoint Pen

The new Pentel Vicuna was a pen I had on my radar since it came out, and as luck would have it, my good pen friend Carmen grabbed one of these for me to try out on a recent trip to New York.  Thanks Carmen!

The Vicuna touts its new super smooth ink technology, and while sometimes claims don't always hold true, in this case Pentel delivers.  The 0.7mm tip writes very smoothly, and the ink is about as dark as you can get from a ballpoint type ink.  I'd love to tell you more about the ink, but the best I can do is the Japanese translation from Pentel Japan.  Regardless, the ink does a very good job.

This is clearly an attempt by Pentel to tap into the Jetstream/Acroball market, and I see no reason why it will not be successful.  Out of that style of pen it likely won't crack my personal top five -

1. Uni-Ball Jetstream 0.5mm blue
2. Pilot Acroball 0.7mm blue
3. Uni-Ball Jetstream 0.5mm black
4. Zebra Surari 0.5mm black
5. Uni-Ball Jetstream 0.7mm black

- but I think it is a pen worth checking out if you are looking for a ballpoint alternative.  JetPens has them in stock in black, blue, and red ink and in several different barrel colors.  At $2.25 each they are definitely worth a look.

Click here for the XL review.