Head over to Notebook Stories for all of the details.
Let's Play a Game
I have a reader who is looking for a pen as a gift. The person she wants to give it to loves the Uni-Ball Signo 207 0.7mm, so she wants to purchase something that writes like that, but with a big time upgrade in style. Here are the guidelines:
1. The budget is $100 or less.
2. The pen must be gel or rollerball ink - ballpoints and fountain pens need not apply.
Pretty straightforward, but I don't have a lot of personal experience in that price range. My one question to the readers is this - can you buy a really nice pen like this with a gel ink cartridge (or refills)? It seems that everything in this price range is of the liquid ink rollerball variety, so I am curious what others have found.
Outside of that, I think the Levenger and Waterman lines have some great looking pens in this price range, but I do not have hands on experience with either of them. I know some of you do, so I am looking for the wisdom of the crowd on this one - what do you think?
Guest Review: Pilot M90 LE by Mabeloos
Hello! I'm Mabeloos, and I'm guest-blogging today, all thanks to the Pen Addict's generosity. I blame him (and his cronies) for encouraging a pleasantly evil habit.
To celebrate its 90th year, Pilot reissued the M90 Limited Edition, a revival of their distinctive MYU line of fountain pens. It is, simply, a beauty to behold. When I saw this at JetPens.com (where it retails for US$180.00), all reason fled my brain. It was a complete impulse buy, but one driven by good reasons: Pilot's reputation, my own experiences with Pilot pens, and the M90 LE itself. I'm a shameless sucker for clean, unfettered lines, and the M90 brings back what many fountain pen collectors consider one of the finest standards of design and function. Now, I'm not a fountain pen collector myself, though I own an increasing number of them (most of recent make and significantly more humble price ranges -- denial?), but I've never been disappointed with any Pilot fountain pen I've bought. I expected a far superior performance out of the M90 LE, one that at least matches its beautiful shape.
I was not disappointed.
The performance of this pen is a true pleasure. Even with what I consider a sub-par ink -- I used the Pilot black ink cartridge that comes with it -- it was smooth, and glided across the page with nary a bump or nick. I tested the pen on Doane Paper (as per Pen Addict style), and discovered that there was some feathering, which I would prefer to attribute to the ink. No feathering, however, on Clairefontaine paper, where the thin line of the nib is much more pronounced.
This will be my main writing pen. But I'll be loathe to put it in my pocket -- that steel is ever so pretty, and keys don't like to play so nice.
Click here for the XL review. (Apologies for the crappy quality. My camera isn't in the best of health.)
For more pictures, browse this set.
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Thanks so much to Mabeloos for reviewing this pen for The Pen Addict! You can find her blog and links to other work at kissy smooth. If anyone else is interested in doing a guest review or post, please send me an email at the address listed in the sidebar. I'd love to have you!
