Ohto Needle-Point Slim Line 0.3mm Ballpoint Review

I was really excited to give this new Ohto Needle-Point Slim Line 0.3mm ballpoint pen a twirl as soon as I saw it show up in JetPens new product feed (they have been on quite a roll lately fyi). First off, it is an Ohto, whose pen designs I really enjoy, and secondly, it is an 0.3mm ballpoint. Not 0.4mm like the Zebra Techno Line, and not 0.5mm like the Uni-Ball Jetstream, but 0.3mm. Easily the finest tipped ballpoint I have used.

My expectations of this pen were so high that I wanted it to be perfect, and like many of us find from time to time, things have a hard time living up to perfection. I'll say right offhand that this is a really cool pen and one I will keep using, but there are a few little things that get to me. The largest culprit is the ink line. What I found as I was writing was that if I kept a reasonably vertical pen barrel angle I wouldn't have many problems, but if I had a lower angle there would be a fair amount of skipping. I think that is a function of just how fine this pen is and that there isn't much room for error.

Additionaly, the pen barrel is to thin for any long term writing stints. Again, I think this is due to how fine the tip is. If you had a thin barrel and a wider tip, you could write in a more flowing style without as much stress. I felt like I was gripping pretty firmly to get the pen to do what I wanted it to do. The overall feel in the hand was fantastic though. The barrel is made completely out of metal, and I love how the knock is a conical shape as opposed to the more standard vertical walled design.

At $7.50, it isn't cheap to not completely love, but it has so many good things going for it I am going to keep it well within arms reach.

Click here for the XL review.

Levenger 4x6 Note Cards Review

As I have mentioned before, I am a big fan of the index card. I like their sleek, simplistic nature, and there is just something satisfying about having that one single card to jot down your current ideas or to do list. At the time I ordered these last year, you could buy the 4x6 Levenger Note Cards in a 75-card sampler pack, containing 25 five each of grid, ruled, and blank cards. That option doesn't seem to be available anymore on the Levenger website, but the 3x5 sampler is, as are all of the 3x5 and 4x6 single design options, and all are worth checking out.

I tried out several different inks on these cards, and as you might have guessed, some performed better than others. All of the gel ink pens worked great, especially the sub-micro tips like the Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.25mm and Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.38mm. There was no delay or skipping at all with any of them. The liquid ink and fountain pen ink didn't fare so well. While there wasn't much bleed through the card, there was some feathering as you can notice in the picture. I felt like I had to write really fast with them to make the lines decent.

One thing I didn't like is that the cards in the sampler pack were only printed on one side. I think if you order the standard personalized note cards or non-personalized note cards they are printed on both sides, but not every note card description stated that fact, only a few. If I was to reload my stock I would definitely want grids on both sides.

The cost of the note cards isn't exactly cheap at $28 per 500 ($5.60 per 100 cards) for lined or grid non-personalized cards, but there aren't a slew of options in the high-end note card realm either. If you are looking for an upgrade over your standard store brand cards, the Levenger Note Cards may be your best bet.

Ink Links

-- Sharpie Fine Marker (Pocket Blonde)

-- Staples (postscript) 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil (Pens'n'Paper)

-- How Do You Collect Pens? (Goldspot Pens)

-- Review: Zebra Surari 0.7mm Ballpoint Pen (Notebook Loves Pen)

-- No. 120 Tru-Point Automatic Leadholder Photo Review (Lung Sketching Scrolls)

-- A Birthday Pen and Post: 4 in 1 USB Pen (Does This Pen Write?)

-- The Parker 45 (Penned House)

-- Nomadic PE-06 Side Zipper Pencil Case (Office Supply Geek)

-- Mini Review: Playing Favorites (No Pen Intended)