Customer Reviews

purchased this pencil to use at my drawing table and love it. As I do not walk around with pencils in my pocket, I have no fear of “dropping it” and bending the tip. The heavy weight offer more control and consistence pressure onto the paper.

I got this pencil a few weeks ago, and I absolutely fell in love with it. The pencil feels perfectly balanced and it's an absolute joy to write with. The Rotring 600's design and construction is minimalism at its finest. The pencil is very slim, and very comfortable. The metal clip is very unlikely to break off unlike on so many cheaper pencils. The lead indicator is smooth to rotate, and the metal sleeve enclosing the eraser has zero play. I chose the black model in 0.7 as the somewhat shiny silver model wasn't quite to my taste. Over time, I anticipate the coating wearing in some places- but that's hardly an issue. My only "complaint" is the fact that the metal nib does not retract. As someone mentioned earlier; if you drop it the nib may bend, rendering the pencil useless (I have not had experience with this). The 800 series, as far as I can tell is EXACTLY the same thing with a retractable front section; a feature that I would quite enjoy. The only "problem" with the 800 is that it uses more pressure-fit plastic parts, and costs $50 more. The nib on the 800 is also likely to have slight play, which I would find more than slightly annoying. Between the 500, 600, 800, and Rapid Pro I would suggest either the 600, or Rapid Pro. The RP is slightly longer (about 1/4 of an inch), and has a retractable nib. Overall I'm going to give this product a 4.6/5 for the non-retractable tip. On the plus side, that's one less moving part you have to worry about, and eliminates any chance of it having any play. I would highly recommend this product- it's a little pricey, but it's worth every cent. :)

I have been using various 0.7mm mechanical pencils with coloured "lead" for drawing comics for some time. None of them had a perfect fit between the guide pipe and the lead, and the lead would constantly break into half-centimetre pieces just behind the back of the pipe. I would go through two or three pieces every couple hours, which is quite wasteful and can get relatively expensive. I switched to the Rotring 600 about a month ago (to match a 0.5mm pencil I've had for over a decade), and I haven't had a single piece of lead break. Not once. The not only is the guide pipe perfectly snug to the lead, but the advance mechanism ensures that the lead dosn't get pushed out so far that it will break off. Everything about the pencil feels great, from the knurled grip to the weight and the mechanism inside; this is by far my favourite mechanical pencil.