help me pick a very cool pen

Blue Jays said:
Visit http://www.spacepen.com/usa/index2.htm and click on the "refills" tab on the right and scroll about a quarter of the way down to see the various replacements offered for sale. I unscrewed my LAMY and lo n' behold the M66 refill looks very similar to what is illustrated on this page.
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That's what's throwing me. The Fisher ballpoint refill fits the M60, which is a rollerball refill. The M16 is Lamy's ballpoint refill. That works because Lamy's rollerballs doesn't come with mechanical actuation, which requires that notched top found on top of the M16 refills.
 
Hi All-

TonyCCW, to ensure the Fisher refills work with the LAMY and Montblanc models mentioned, I'm tempted just to take them both to a Fisher retailer and try them on the spot. If they work correctly, I'll purchase a few and post the results here. I'm wondering if perhaps some changes in model# are adding to the confusion? High-performance refills in these otherwise sweet-looking pens would be the bee's knees!

Sygyzy, the web sites for Lamy and Montblanc don't allow linking directly to the precise page on which those models are shown. I underlined simply for reading clarity. About as far as you can get without additional navigation are www.lamy.com and www.montblanc.com. Naturally, I would have saved my fellow forumites the effort if I could. :cool:

~ Blue Jays ~
 
Blue Jays said:
TonyCCW, to ensure the Fisher refills work with the LAMY and Montblanc models mentioned, I'm tempted just to take them both to a Fisher retailer and try them on the spot. If they work correctly, I'll purchase a few and post the results here. I'm wondering if perhaps some changes in model# are adding to the confusion? High-performance refills in these otherwise sweet-looking pens would be the bee's knees!
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I guess I wasn't clear earlier.

It's not a Lamy ballpoint to Fisher ballpoint swap. It's a Lamy Rollerball refill to Fisher ballpoint refill swap. That makes finding a Lamy ball point pen to do the swap out very difficult. Most Lamy ball points have the mechanical actuation (either a plunger or a twist mechanism) built in. Where as most of Lamy's rollerballs are non-moving capped bodies. So, if I wanted to keep using my Lamy Personal Ballpoint pen, there's no Fisher refill available to fit it.
 
cognitivefun said:
I want something distinctive and interesting. In the ballpoint or rollerball way.

I have carried Montblanc, et al. I'd like something that attracts attention and looks very high tech.

Suggestions are welcome!
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Get one of the older GERMAN Rotrings, not the current Newton substitute!

A $3 Pentel refill for an ink cartridge that is now 10 or more years old and your done for the Rollerball. For the Ballpoint, a new Parker Gel refill and your done.

I love those old Brass Rotring's. When Sheaffer bought Rotring, I went to Ebay and stocked up. :)
 
tonyccw,

Have you tried the Porsche designed pens? I was looking at them in the catalog I got from Fountain Pen Hospital and they look really cool, but haven't heard anything about them. Not that I am in a real rush to go out and spend that much on a pen right now anyway.

I handled some of Tom's titanium pens with the tritium at the top and they were really cool. The looked good, and felt comfortable in the hand, really light too.

The pen that I carry as a part of my EDC gear is a Fisher Space Pen bullet model. Small enough to fit in my pocket easily, yet with the cap on it is like a full sized pen. Also writes great, but I have had a problem with one of my two pens getting blobs of ink on the tip.
 
Alright, I've been reading about Rotring 600s for awhile now. You guys have me convinced. Since it seems the older version is better, how do you tell old from new if looking on ebay (from what I understand, the only place to find them)?

Mark
 
ErikD said:
Have you tried the Porsche designed pens? I was looking at them in the catalog I got from Fountain Pen Hospital and they look really cool, but haven't heard anything about them.
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Yes. They're very innovative. The meshed ones are a little weird when it flexes. I bought one of the Aero's as a potential defensive weapon because of it's full metal shaft, but didn't like the way the ink wrote.
cognitivefun said:
Has anyone tried the Lamy Dialog pen?
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I have one. It's a fun pen. The shape's not that comfortable for me though. If you do get it, buy it with a Broad point. It'll write smoother.
cognitivefun said:
anyone know about Lamy quality, this pen or any of their pens, customer service, etc.?
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Lamy's customer service is fairly decent. Any pens sent back for repairs, on the mid to low range, usually gets swapped out with a new unit. The higher end pens are refurbed to like-new. Turn around is fairly quick.
 
I've tried the Lamy Swift but returned it for the Stainless Steel Retro51 Tornado. For $20 this pen writes great and looks just as good. The Lamy Swift has a nice feature for a rollerball...it has a retractable clip. When "clicking" the pen the clip retracts but feels rough and cheap. For $100 it is very light and seemed to be plastic spray painted in silver. In contrast, the Retro 51 is heavier and looks more expensive than the $100 Lamy Swift. One thing worth noting is that the Lamy M66 refill is very smooth and could be used in the Tornado. My advise is to buy the $20 Tornado and the $4 M66 refill...save $76.
 
Some ballpoint models to consider:

Parker Stainless Jotter: Inexpensive very tough, lifetime warranty
and a GREAT overall pen, btw I use Fisher refills in mine:)

Cross Century Chrome: Again not expensive, great pen, lifetime warranty

Waterman Expert: My favorite (both pen and company), beautiful, heavy well-balanced, smooth writer, lifetime warranty. Also, if you get the Rollerball it will take pilot G2 refills:)

Lamy 2000: I don't have one YET but I've seen/used them, own other Lamys tri-pens and such, gerat company, GREAT PEN, lifetime warranty.

Fisher Bullet with clip: Inexpensive, fisher refills, lifetime warranty, great pen.

Pilot Dr. Grip: My second favorite inexpensive pen

Pilot Dr. Grip Gel: My favorite inexpensive pen, uses G2 gel refills.

Sanford Phd and Phd ultra (I think): also a great inexpensive pen, but i prefer the Pilots.

I own all of these Pens (and a few others ;) ) except the Lamy which I plan to buy soon. All of these are great pens and I would highly recommend all of them. However I think the Waterman Expert is simply the BEST ballpoint or Rollerball or Fountain pen on the market. It will shame any less expensive pen and any pen that can compete with it will usually cost several times more. So if you want a fancy pen get the Waterman. If you want a tough EDC type pen go with the Parker, Cross, or Fisher, perhaps the Lamy (the Waterman's tough but you won't want to scratch it) Dollar for dollar the Dr. Grips are the best thing going though.
 
I would also sugest the Lamy 2000 Multicolour pen. The picture on the website don't do it justice. The black portion has a wood grain look and it rights smoothly.
 
ErikD said:
tonyccw,

Have you tried the Porsche designed pens? I was looking at them in the catalog I got from Fountain Pen Hospital and they look really cool, but haven't heard anything about them. Not that I am in a real rush to go out and spend that much on a pen right now anyway.
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I tried one out in an airport a few months back. Very cool and unique writing instrument. The mesh look gives the impression it would be too flexible, but it's actually very firm.
 
Blue Jays said:
It's kind of sad that my smoothest pens tend to be cheap, promotional giveaways that absolutely SMOKE my high-end pens in terms of raw performance. The only reason I retain the nice pens is because I don't want to slide a plastic POS across the table when I'm asking an important client to sign a $500,000 order...

~ Blue Jays ~
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I agree, for day to day use I use a staedtler stick, a box of 20 costs me about £5... They are much better to write with than any of my expensive pens, the only thing that comes close is the cheapest spacepen I own, $7 from the space center....
 
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