Platinum Balance Fountain Pen Review

I was a little concerned after opening my package from JetPens and taking my first glance at the Platinum Balance Fountain Pen. Do I like the design? How durable is it? And most of all, is it worth the price?

At $50, this is not a toss in the cart add-on. Some thought is required to commit to a pen like this. Like I mentioned in the podcast this week, I don't want another "one and done". Fortunately, once I inked this pen up and started using it, all of my concerns flew out of the window.

The nib on the Platinum Balance is the primary selling point. For a Japanese steel F nib it is nothing short of fantastic. I inked this pen up with a Platinum Blue Black ink cartridge and was amazed at how fine, clean, and consistent the lines were. From a writing standpoint alone, it ranks as good as or better than any other pen in its price range.

Since the nib is so great, the real decision is whether you like the design or not. I am a fan of demonstrator pens and branched out with the Crystal Blue instead of the Shine Crystal (I didn't consider Crystal Rose). It is a good weight - not too light - and comfortable while writing. The only visual issue I have is that I don't care for the white insert inside the cap. I assume it is there to hide any stray ink that may fly off the nib when jostling around.

Color me surprised with this one. I thought it was just going to be another average fountain pen but as well as it writes I think I will be getting regular use out of it.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Platinum SBTB-1000H Roller Ball Review

The sleek and shiny barrel is what caught my eye on the recently added Platinum SBTB-1000H Roller Ball at JetPens. But as I have said many times before, don't let looks get in the way of performance. What good is an expensive pen if you don't like how it writes?

Fortunately, the SBTB-1000H writes almost as well as it looks. I say almost because I did notice if I hold the pen at too low of a writing angle I start to feel some scratchiness. This happens with many pens. If your writing angle is low you start catching more of the tip cone than the actual ball of the pen. Raise your writing angle a bit and you should notice a completely different feel.

With my normal writing angle the ink flowed smoothly and very cleanly for a rollerball, which is sometimes hard to pull off. There is little to no feathering or bleed, and the ink is pitch black.

The aluminum barrel feels great and the design is top notch. It reminds me of a cross between the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier and the P1 on Kickstarter, two outstanding pen designs. All in all I am happy with this pen.

My only hang up is the name. "Would you like to borrow my Platinum SBTB-1000H" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Oh well, it's not like us pen people talk to real human beings anyway. ;)

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Platinum Mini Ballpoint Pen with Capacitive Stylus Review

I mentioned in last week’s podcast that I had tried out a new pen + stylus combo that I did not like, and the Platinum Mini Ballpoint Pen with Capacitive Stylus is the guilty party. The concept is good, but there are just too many flaws to make this a pen worth using.

To cut right to the chase, my main issue is the stylus performance. First off, it is very non-responsive on my touch screen devices. It took 2–3 taps to register on my iPad without a screen protector and 3–5 taps on my iPhone with an Otter Box built in screen protector. Swiping? Don’t even ask.

Secondly, and possibly the cause of the first issue, is that the stylus is on top of the pen knock. I didn’t give it a passing thought when ordering the pen, but the knock spring is not strong enough to prevent the stylus from receding a large amount when trying to use it. It is like squish, squish, squish every tap. It was frustrating after about five seconds of use.

The pen itself is not so bad. The slim design is great for portability, and the 0.5 mm ballpoint writes very well. It’s a shame that the stylus performance is not up to par. I think JetPens agrees - I have never seen a pen move from New Arrivals to Close-Out so quickly.