i've recently become intrigued with fine-tipped pens like the pilot hi-tec c. normally i use 0.5 mm pencil because, writing with [ballpoint] pens is like writing with a sledgehammer, plus i prefer the finer lines when writing in chinese, japanese or korean. because i write wih 0.5mm pencils, naturally i considered pens in the 0.4-0.5mm range, but still have doubts that they won't produce as fine of a line as pencil. therefore i'm contemplating trying something in the sub-0.3mm range, however because I use pens for notetaking and writing, am wondering if the tips can withstand constant writing.

so i guess the question is, what's a good balance between creating fine lines and constant use?

I haven't tried absolutely every fine tip pen Jetpens sells, but I do have several. The uniball signo, pentel slicci, and the zebra techno line appear to have the most durable tips of the ones I've tried. The techno or the signo are probably your best bets for constant writing.

I have tried Uniball signo bit .18, Pilot Hi Tec c .25 and .3. Pentel Slici

I love the signo, but I have had 3 just stop working. I had a friend buy me some when she was in Japan, and I used it once, and never worked again.

I used the .3 for notes in my econ courses. They are great pens to use. I used them for my final notes ( i copied my class notes to make a nicer looking, more complete copy) and I had some korean friends and they wanted me to copy my notes for them because they looked nicer than theirs! I dont know about the .5, but the .3 has been very good and durable. The only reason I am getting .5 is because i need a bolder point for work. I dont like the slici because the diameter is a bit to small for my hands, making it become quite uncomfortable after a while, but it does write well.

So far, I have used the uniball signo dx .28mm for all my school notes/essays and have not encountered big problems with them. Probably the only thing (this may be a personal peeve) but using thinner lines such as these kind of make me write slower so that my handwriting looks nicer :lol:

Any gel pen with a tip diameter of 0.4 or less is going to produce a line thinner than a 0.5mm pencil (unless that pencil is a Kuru Toga 0.5mm, which makes a line as thin as a conventional 0.3mm pencil). I prefer using a 0.3mm pencil for every day work. 0.5mm is just to fat a pencil (except the above mentioned Kuru Toga) So I like thin tipped gel pens as well.

Even though the uni-ball Signo 207 Micro is a 0.5mm tipped pen it produces a thinner line. I like it. The uni-ball Signo DX in 0.38mm, the Signo RT Gel 0.38mm and the Pilot G-2 0.38mm as well as the Zebra SARSA Clip in 0.4mm are all nice fine line gel pens. All of them have conical tips so they are hardy pens. Any of them would be a good choice.
:)

I find that the .4mm pens are the best compromise between smoothness and a fine point. I love the signo dx .38 and the HI-TEC-C .4.