Originally Posted by RedLeader
alrighty, where would I get such a pen, and what would it cost me? I've ALWAYS been a mechanical pencil man as I'm an engineer (in training, but close enough I say) and constantly erase and am doing calculations. Math with pens doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But my other writing I do, perhaps.
I'd say, start with a cheapie but goody to find out if you really like it.
I got my Pelikano pen from
http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Pelikan.html in the UK. The price is good, especially since you don't need to pay VAT in the US, but shipping might be a bit steep to the US, they do send it by registered mail and fast too. The good thing is that you can get the converter for bottled ink there too and ink. You could also opt for cartridges. Less hassle but also less choice in ink.
Found this place:
https://secure9.nexternal.com/shared...t=products.asp
Shipping should be less so the total should be less.
Think about if you want a fine nib or a medium. A medium writes quite a bit thicker than a ballpoint but you may very well like the look of a nice thick line. (if you're lefthanded there is no option for fine with this pen I'm afraid.)
If you want a more expensive pen, I'd say find the nearest B&M pen store. And let yourself be advised. It'll cost you more than getting it of ebay but if there's something wrong or you don't like the linewidth or whatever, you've got somewhere to go and resolve the problem.
-edit-
If you've never wriiten with a fountain pen before it's good to know that you don't need to press on the nib like you do with ballpens. It can hurt the nib, especially gold nibs.