Platinum Pro-Use 03 Black Drafting Pencil - 0.3 mm

I bought one of these a while ago to try. It is a pencil that I really want to love, but just can't. It is very nice looking and has a respectable build quality. There is something strange however about the indentation of the rubber grip, that while it is good for keeping your grip from sliding forward, causes the angle of the tip relative to what I am used to with other pencils to be just slightly peculiar. Thus, it just doesn't feel like it's pointing in the right direction. It might also be that the tip is a bit shorter than I'm used to. One other thing, it rattles a bit while writing.

I found a different Platinum model, the MSD 300 model rather than this one which is the MSD 500 model. The cheaper MSD300 has a simpler and lighter body with no lead hardness indicator, no rubber grip, but a very nice flared tip that is extremely comfortable for writing. The MSD300 is really cheap-o. But since it is just so "writable" I have wound up using it along with Pentel P203 as my main 0.3 pencil for writing really fine stuff.

Nice looking and nothing really technically wrong (except rattling), but I just find myself not wanting to use it.

One of the best mechanical pencil I own!!!
I absolutely love it!!
It is great for taking notes

The Platinum Pro Use MSD 500A was my first Platinum pencil. My second was an MSD 300A. The 500A is a very nice pencil. I like the rubber grip, though like all such grips it's a lint attractor. The pencil feels good in my hand and points well. The lead sleeve is exactly 4mm as it should be. The pencil noes not rattle when I write with it but can be made to rattle if shaken. This is a combination of the lead in the reservoir and the lead reservoir hitting the inside of the body. No biggie. I don't normally shake my pencils. The lead grade indicator has enough friction to keep the ring in place during normal use. Funny thing is while the body is plastic the push button id blackened brass! Overall a nice pencil. I like it.

This pencil is pretty nice but not amazing. The barrel seems to be made of a type of plastic however the eraser cap and front end seems to be made of metal. The overall feeling of the pencil is a bit shaky and the back cap seems to fall off easily. The lead indicator is a piece of loose tape under a plastic bit that can become loose if the front metal end isn't on properly. The clip is pretty cheap but works alright. The mechanism for pushing out the lead is actually really good in contrast and I haven't had any real issues with it. The back part which holds the eraser in place, a little metal bit is extremely easy to bend and break as well. Overall it is functional, just a bit cheap feeling. That is to be expected however for such a low price.

This pencil is one of my new favorites. The lead advance is perfect and it writes very smooth. The only thing I don't like is that the dial "lead indicator" is not tighter. It keeps turning every time I write. I also bought one of these in 0.3 and the indicator is perfect and doesn't turn very easily on that one. I like my indicators to stay in one place because I switch my lead a lot. Maybe I just got a bad pencil with a loose dial, I don't know. But other than that, I think it is a pencil that I will be using for years to come! :o)