Reviews Written by lpmusicmanlp

  I don't think there is..., November 3, 2010

I don't think there is a material difference between the ink output of the RT/DX lines. Other than the obvious ink capacity of each refill, I prefer the retractability, grip and design in general of the RT. Definitely one of my favourite gel pens - it writes a lot better on 'normal' paper than the Hi-Tec-C line, although I still prefer Hi-Tec-C 0.3mm tips if I have better quality notebooks to use.

  Without exaggeration,..., October 29, 2010

Without exaggeration, my favourite ballpoint pen of any brand, model or specification. For anything short of running a 7-page imaginative context piece for my English exam, its balance between writing feedback and smoothness mated to a crisp, fine line is perhaps unbeatable. Maybe I'm just having an economy-pen streak lately but I've even been using this in preference to my 'high grade' models of various pens. For $2.25 it looks very sleek and professional.

As with all Jetstreams, the ink is much more vibrant than a typical ballpoint, particularly in blue. I find the black feels inferior to gel inks from Hi-Tec-Cs and Signos, but the blue has a nice color to it and a shade that makes it seem nothing like a second-rate compromise.

The retractable feature makes it nice and portable; the grip is neither too hard nor too soft. Most importantly of all, unlike with some of my fine-pointed Japanese gel pens, it has absolutely no trouble writing on rougher paper, whereas I feel my Hi-Tec-Cs and the like suffer unless I'm writing on high-grade notebooks. Signo DX, Signo RT, G2, thus far no pen has given me this level of performance (although I still prefer gel pens if I have quality writing material for the deeper colors).

If you know a better all-round pen for this kind of price, I'd really like to know.

  I don't know - I've tried..., October 29, 2010

I don't know - I've tried hard to like it, and I really want to, but I'm having a little issue that I've never had with Jetstream pens before: the ink skips when I first put the pen to paper. It's fine after the initial splutter, but even then I have this uneasy feeling of 'blotchiness'. Maybe I got a lemon, or maybe I'm just paranoid, but these things have more or less stopped me from getting much use out of this baby in the few months I've had it.

I may order a new set of inks just to test, although I think I'd swap them for 0.5mm cartridges; in my opinion, 0.7mm is only superior to its thinner counterpart when extended, flowing writing is required. Otherwise, the superior line quality and feedback of the 0.5mm remains superior.

  Even amongst Jetstreams,..., September 6, 2010

Even amongst Jetstreams, this one is my favourite for extended periods of time. The blue ink is smooth, rarely blotches or skips and looks much nicer (at least, in my opinion) than the black. It's not too thick like the 1.0mm versions yet retains much of the fluidity you'd expect from a Jetstream. However, personally I think the 0.5mm blue looks nicer on paper, at the cost of being a little scratchier.

  Ink flow is nice; deep..., September 4, 2010

Ink flow is nice; deep color that doesn't blotch or skip. The one annoying thing for me is the grip; it's positioned too high on the pen body for me to find it comfortable, so I tend to have to hold the pen below the grip.

  Nice case with reasonably..., August 24, 2010

Nice case with reasonably large capacity; I have around 15 pens in there and it's not full yet (we'll see how it goes when my next shipment arrives). Bit flimsy when it's standing up but nothing that significantly impairs functionality.

  Very nice output, but..., August 18, 2010

Very nice output, but relatively speaking (against pens like the Hi-Tec-C and Uni-ball's Jetstream) it is quite scratchy. Thankfully, if you want something smoother, the Style Fit accommodates Jetstream 0.7mm refills too, although you'd be trading up a beautiful line for a smoother experience.

  It's versatile and functions..., August 13, 2010

It's versatile and functions very nicely, but the pen body could stand to be better. The clicking mechanism can be annoying to use and the ink cartridges aren't solidly locked into the case, so there is some rattling. Hardly a deal breaker, but it's something to note.

  Another thing I noticed..., August 7, 2010

Another thing I noticed that I felt worth mentioning is that I find that HB lead works better than 2B for this pencil. I think, being that it is too soft, the 2B lead wears out too quickly, so even though the mechanism is working, the lead is being blunted faster (particularly given the extra force required to make the mechanism work). Maybe it's just me, but that problem was eliminated when I tried HB lead again. Just putting that out there.

  Very nice pencil. The..., August 3, 2010

Very nice pencil. The gel is indeed less squishy than others in the line, but it's not really a bad thing. If anything, I prefer the grip on this one than any other of the alpha gels I have (Uni KT and the Jetstream). Obviously, with such a slim pencil it only makes sense that the grip is thinner too.