I'll be the first one to openly admit that reviews of automatic pencils, markers and office supplies in general are, for the most part, boring. How many times can you comment on how well something writes, if there are refills available or who it is best suited for before you start repeating yourself? Simply put, you can only church things up so much before it gets redundant. With that being said, Pentel is about to change the way people think of automatic pencils. They have always designed and manufactured products with consumers needs in mind but the introduction of the patented Twist Erase has had competitors trying to duplicate the design but never really coming close to matching what it offers. Normally I go for fine lines when I am picking out automatic or mechanical pencils but when I saw this one at Target I had to get it to try it out. The .5mm and .7mm varieties were sold out so I took that as a really good sign that others tried them and liked them.
Pentel Automatic Pencil With Twist Eraser
So what sets this apart from other automatic pencils? First off it has a large rubber comfort grip area that makes it possible to write for extended periods of time without hand cramps. The .9mm lead yields a wider than normal line so if you hate lead pencils that write with almost razor fine precision, this is definitely something that you should check out. To advance the eraser just twist the back end of the pencil, to advance the lead just click the front of the pencil as you would with other automatic pencils. The lead doesn't smear however if you are using it on a slick type of paper such as vellum or air mail paper you could get some smudging because there isn't much of a grain for the lead to adhere to. This is a great pencil pick to use on loose leaf, notebook and copy paper and because this leaves a nice, dark, thick line, you can make photocopies without and drop out areas or gray lines.
If all this weren't enough you can purchase leads as well as erasers for this pencil. That means that after the initial investment in the pencil, all you have to do is get refills to keep this thing going. The barrel is well made and will put up with a lot of use before it needs to be replaced; the first one that I purchased about six months ago is still working great. Since the first one I picked up I've gotten them in other colors as well as lead sizes for the boys to use. The tricky thing was getting the correct size refill leads for them; these are things that I just won't order online because it is way too easy for a site to send you the wrong sized lead and then you are stuck with them or forced to pay return shipping until you can dispute that it was their fault. This is a well made automatic pencil that students and heavy note takers will love to write with; the rubber comfort grip reduces stress on fingers and allows you to write longer without cramping.
These are available in a lot of different barrel colors but if I am buying them for myself I always go with the black barrel. For whatever reason they seem to hold up better and scratches aren't a problem. You can find these at most of the usual office supply stores like Office Depot and Staples but I got the first few at Target. I have seen them at Wal-Mart but they don't seem to have the color choices or lead sizes that office supply stores have. I can't remember the exact price that I paid for this at Target but looking through my envelope of receipts, they are selling for $2.19 at Wal-Mart and $2.39 at Staples. Seeing as how you can purchase refills for the lead and the erasers it makes sense to invest in something like this because both of them cost less than the pencil itself. You get a smooth write, rubber comfort grip and an oversized eraser that makes quick work of getting rid of mistakes.
The Bottom Line
Even though I really love the way that this writes I'm not limiting myself to using this exclusively. I keep a few of these in my desk at the shop and have one in my backpack but there are a lot of other awesome automatic pencils that I use on a regular basis. The oversized eraser makes cleaning up mistakes a complete breeze and in most cases it won't rip the paper or leave holes in it. If you are someone that likes a thicker line from a pencil then this is well worth checking out; the down side to it is that the tip of the lead dulls from time to time so you need to rotate it to keep a sharp line. The metal pocket clip allows you to attach it to loops inside a briefcase or backpack and so far none of the ones that I've owned have bent or snapped off and if you knew the abuse that I put them through, you'd really appreciate that statement. For about two dollars you can get an automatic pencil that is a pure pleasure to write with, can be refilled with both lead and eraser heads and gives you solid lines from start to finish.
As always, thanks for the visit…
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
Other Pentel product reviews
Pencils
Forte Automatic Pencil
Razzle Dazzle Icy Mechanical Pencil
Pentel Champ
Clic Eraser
Pens
R.S.V.P. Ballpoint
EnerGel Liquid Gel Roller
Hybrid Gold Gel Ink Pen
Lancelot Roller Ball Pen
Other Pentel products
Presto! Flat Barrel Correction Pen
Pink Data Checker Highlighter
Yellow Data Checker Highlighter
Pentel Clic Eraser
Sanford Eraser Caps
PaperMate EraserStik
PaperMate Tuff Stuff Eraser
Sanford Magic Rub Erasers
Sanford Kneaded Eraser
PaperMate White Pearl Latex Free Eraser
Office Depot Value Eraser Caps
CLI Replacement Eraser Caps
PaperMate Union Dual Eraser
